Ueda Sōko
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Ueda Sōko (上田宗箇) (1563 – 30 May 1650) was a warlord who lived during the Momoyama and early Edo Periods. He is best known for founding the Ueda Sōko-ryū, a warrior class school of Japanese tea ceremony from Hiroshima. Ueda Sōko went by the name Satarō (佐太郎) in his younger days and later Shigeyasu (重安).[1][circular reference] He received his Zen practitioner's name of Chikuin (竹隠) by the 111th patriarch of Daitoku-ji, Shunoku Sōen. Today his death plaque is enshrined at the Sangen-in sub-temple of Daitoku-ji, beside that of his long time teacher in the Way of Tea, Furuta Oribe. Sōko was held in high esteem by Toyotomi Hideyoshi for military exploits and as a tea master. In the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), Sōko sided with Toyotomi's Western Army and was thus defeated. During the Siege of Osaka Summer Campaign (1615), Sōko fought with Asano Yoshinaga on the Tokugawa side, and for this Sōko was given a pardon by Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1619, the Tokogawa shogunate assigned the Geishū Domain to Asano Nagaakira and Sōko relocated to Hiroshima serving Nagaakira. Sōko was given a fief of 17,000 koku of rice in west Hiroshima (present day Hatsukaichi and Ōtake) and the role of Chief Retainer of the Geishū Domain for the Asano.
Ueda Sōko 上田宗箇 | |
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Other name(s) | Satarō 佐太郎, Shigeyasu 重安, Chikuin 竹隠 |
Born | 1563 Hoshizaki, Owari Province |
Died | (1650-05-30)30 May 1650 (aged 88) Hiroshima City, Hiroshima |
Buried | |
Allegiance | Niwa Nagahide, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Asano Nagamasa, Asano Nagaakira, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Hidetada |
Rank | Karō, Daimyō |
Battles/wars | Kyūshū Campaign, Siege of Odawara, Korean Campaigns, Battle of Sekigahara, Siege of Osaka |
Other work | Founder of the Ueda Sōko-ryū |
Associated tea masters: Kobori Enshū, Hosokawa Sansai |
In 1632 (Year nine of Kan'ei Era) at the age of 70, Sōko retired from military duties and devoted himself to the Way of Tea. He immersed himself in a life of chanoyu: crafting tea equipage such as bamboo flower vases, chashaku tea scoops and firing raku ware tea bowls. Sōko developed his own school of chanoyu known as the Ueda Sōko-ryū. The school of Japanese tea ceremony continues in its 16th generation today, with an unbroken bloodline to Ueda Sōko.