Japanese Beauty: A Tea Ceremony in Memory of Ichizo Kobayashi

150th anniversary of Ichizo Kobayashi's birth. We visited his memorial hall.

This is an upscale residential area in Ikeda, surrounded by greenery.

Inside the memorial hall, you can learn about Ichizo's history. Ichizo is the founder of the Takarazuka Revue and Hankyu, and you might think he was from Kansai, but he was actually from Yamanashi, and had ties to Kansai when he was in charge of Osaka while working at Mitsui Bank. He was invited to join the railway business, and came up with a grand business plan to start a railway business by turning the Hokusetsu region, which was a very rural rice field at the time, into a residential area.

He started holding tea ceremonies at the recommendation of his boss, and apparently had tea rooms all over his house. This is Jingatei, where today's tea ceremony will be held. He brought this tea room from next door.

The plaque (the name of the tea room) was by Matsunaga Yazaemon. As you would expect from people of that era. Of course they had contact with each other.

The garden is lovely.

Because of the beauty of Japanese culture, they were particular about the hanging scrolls, too.

Still, in keeping with Ichizo's spirit, we wanted people to enjoy tea in a casual way, so this time we used a bamboo whisk to whisk up the delicious Yame tea powder. The sweets were from Ashiya, a city with ties to Ichizo and based in Kobe, where Wa no Bi is based, and were inspired by Tanizaki Junichiro's The Makioka Sisters.

They turned out beautifully!

I gave up on wearing a kimono because of the rainy season. . And the organizers looked beautiful in their kimonos.

From there we moved to the mansion, which is now a restaurant.

It was truly a space where Japanese and Western styles were seamlessly connected.

This is the exterior of the house. It's quite Western-style. It's named Gazoku Sanso, a name befitting Ichizo, who loved elegance and the public. It was built in 1937, so I imagine it was quite modern at the time.

This is the fireplace, which has been electric since Gazoku Sanso was built. . Just how modern.

The photo shoot is somewhat Takarazuka-esque. To me it's a bit like Gone with the Wind? And this is today's lunch

Amuse-bouche

Appetizer, marinated red sea bream

I was shown Baccarat glasses from Ichizo's collection, which he used regularly

Whiskey made by Suntory when Emperor Heisei got married. It was well sealed and didn't evaporate at all.

Spanish mackerel

Beef fillet

Brownies and ice cream

We went to the exhibition on the second floor of the mansion. People who interacted with him are introduced, including Akiko Yosano.

The garden seen from the second floor. There was also a Japanese-style room on the second floor.

Study

Since I was there, I bought my own tea set

Then, in the evening, I drove along the Sumiyoshi River and went to Hamadaya again today. Hors d'oeuvres

Sashimi set

We all took a snap.

It was delicious both at night and during the day. Thank you~