Omotesenke (表千家) is one of the schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with Urasenke and Mushakōjisenke, it is one of the three lines of the Sen family descending from Sen no Rikyū, which together are known as the san-Senke or "three Sen houses/families" (三千家).

The name "Omotesenke", literally meaning "front Sen house/family," came into being as a natural occurrence, because of the location of the homestead of this line of the family in relation to that of the line of the family at what originally was the rear (ura) of the Sen estate. The name "Mushakōjisenke" for the other of the three lines of the family derives from the fact that the family's homestead is located along Mushakōji street.

History

The Omotesenke estate, known by the name of its representative tea room, the "Fushin-an" (不審庵), was where Sen no Rikyū's son-in-law, Sen Shōan, reestablished the Kyoto Sen household after Rikyū's death. It is located on Ogawa street in the Kamigyō ward of Kyoto.

Shōan's son Sen Sōtan soon succeeded as the family heir and head of this estate. The next heir to the estate and family tradition was Sōtan's third son, Kōshin Sōsa, counted as the fourth generation in the Omotesenke family line. Sōtan, when he was ready to retire and gave the headship of the family over to Kōshin Sōsa, established his retirement quarters on adjacent property in the north, building a tiny tea room there, the "Konnichi-an" (今日庵). Eventually, Sōtan's youngest son, Sensō Sōshitsu, inherited that part of the estate, which came to be known as the home of the Urasenke.

Style

There are small stylistic differences between the different schools. For example, the Omotesenke school whisks the tea less than the Urasenke school, creating less foam on the top of the tea. Also, Omotesenke uses both an untreated bamboo chasen and a susudake chasen, or darkened-bamboo tea whisk, while Urasenke uses untreated bamboo for its chasen or tea whisk.

The Fushin-an estate, where the 3rd generation, Sōtan, lived until retirement, is the home and headquarters of Omotesenke.

The Kitayama Kaikan in Kyoto is a relatively modern Omotesenke facility, where Omotesenke sponsors exhibitions, lectures, and other educational programs for the general public.

Levels

Licenses or permissions are called kyojō (許状), menjō (免状) or sōden (相伝). They allow students to study certain tea procedures.

Warigeiko

The first skills a student in any Tea school learns are the warigeiko, literally divided or separate training. The warigeiko are skills practiced separately from actual temae (tea or charcoal procedures); since they form the basis of temae, they must be acquired before a student begins making tea. They include:

Basic tea room knowledge

opening and closing sliding doors; walking in the tea room; how and where to sit; how and when to bow; basic guest behaviour including use of fans

Fukusa

folding, opening and handling the fukusa

Natsume

the natsume is the first type of tea container students learn to use. Skills include how to fill the container with tea; how to pick it up, hold it, and put it down; how to purify it

Chashaku

how to handle and purify the tea scoop

Hishaku

how to handle the ladle; special movements for hot and cold water

Chasen

how to handle the tea whisk; how to whisk tea

Chakin

how to fold the tea cloth; how to use it to clean the tea bowl

Chawan

how to handle the tea bowl as both a host and a guest

Headmasters

The hereditary name of the head (iemoto) of this line of the family is Sōsa.