Chado Urasenke Tankokai San Francisco Association Seichu Hounki Tea Ceremony
The Chado Urasenke Tankokai San Francisco Association held its annual late summer memorial tea ceremony on Sunday, August 9, 2026, at the Hokka Nichi Bei Kai (Japanese American Association of Northern California) in San Francisco Japantown.
Until last year, this memorial event took place as Seichu Enno Mugenki, in honor of Tantansai, also known as Mugensai, the 14th generation Tea Master of Urasenke. From this year, however, the name has been changed to Seichu Hounki, to honor the memory of Hounsai, the 15th generation Tea Master, who passed away in the late summer of 2025.
The tea ceremony was hosted by TSUJI Sona and her students. Tea was prepared and served to guests over three separate seating sessions.
Océane Yumi Winckeli served as teishu (host) and Soryo Rueth Inaba served as hanto (assistant) for all three seatings.
The first service began at 10:30 am with Soei Bartlett, Director of the San Francisco Urasenke Foundation, as the first guest; Sokyo Tiscornia as the second guest; and TAKECHI Soko as the third guest. The ceremony opened with hanayose, the offering of flowers, by these three guests.
The second service was held at noon with HAGIWARA Sojin seated as the first guest, Soyo Pusic as the second guest, and SAKAUE Sosei as the third guest.
The third service took place at 1:00 pm with Sokei Wright seated as the first guest, USUI Soka as the second guest, and FUJIMORI Kazuyo as the third guest.
The tearoom was filled with conversations and personal memories about Hounsai, which the guests and hosts enjoyed alike in a serene friendly atmosphere.
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