THE DEATH OF A TEA MASTER
Master!
Go back!
This road is not for you.
Then...
Is it leading to the Otherworld?
Master!
Good morning.
I've seen you in my dream.
Don't you feel all alone?
Master.
That road, dark and cold...
...did it really lead into the Otherworld?
To us, followers of the Path of the Tea,
it also shows the road we have to take.
Isn't it true?
The Tea Roan: in Lord Uraku 3 hermitage.--
...in Kennin Temple in Kyoto, had just been built.
I was invited there in the same time a rich merchant, by the name of Daitalru, was
He sold utensils for the Tea ceremony.
It's my first encounter with Lord Uraku.
I've only seen him from far away, a couple of times.
He left me the impression of a wise but severe man.
Wise, indeed he is.
It was 27 years ago. I wonder if he has changed...
Not at all.
Even Lord Hideoyoshi feared him.
After all, he was the Lord's Master's brother.
They are here.
I am Honkaku.
Welcome.
It seems you've been serving Rikyu, the Tea Master, for a long time.
Yes, I have.
Is this really... the famous bowl called "I do"?
A tea spoon made by the Lord Oribe.
Resilient, like him.
He was resilient, he died protesting.
Like Rikyu did.
And Soji, also.
Oribe did the same thing.
They all were Grand Masters of Tea.
Has one to die like this, in order to be a Grand Master of Tea?
Alone the night is cold.
Let's drink a little sake .
When did Rikyu receive the order to die?
27 years ago.
That many?...
And I, shamelessly, I am still alive.
Why did Hideyoshi command his death?
What was he punished for, in fact?
My Lord.
There are many rumors, and all bring slander.
Some say he was selling the Tea utensils very dearly. He had to.
Only the price can estimate the value of such objects.
Otherwise, we would never know it.
This is the way your fortune was made.
I've been reproached this.
Everything Rikyu chose was perfectly suited...
...to the most beautiful Tea Rooms.
It's only normal that such objects be very expensive.
This is no swindling.
It seems he was the victim of foul tongues.
And not few of them there were.
Lord Ishida was one of them.
What did they allege? That he be a Christian.
Ans that he was opposed to the invasion of Korea.
Was that true?
As the Path of Tea preconceives mutual respect, it was only normal...
...for him to accept Christianity... and reject war.
And the Daitoku incident...
O, the statue representing himself...
He had placed it at the temple's entrance....to supervise the guests.
As if he wanted to boast his power!
Never would he have done such a thing! I know!
That's enough.
These last days, I easily lose my temper.
Do you find this funny?
It is the way you talk. It reminds me of Father Toyo.
Wait! Father Toyo Shinnyo Temple... died in KEICHO 3.
Twenty years ago.
Tea followers worship only one flower.
But Hideyoshi planted thousands of cherry trees.
He then organized a party. And Toyo quit his position.
Talk to me about Toyo a little.
I went to his temple, to see the maple leaves.
After I walked through the door...
Hanlralru?
Is it you, Hanlralru?
Father Toyo!
Did you become a hermit, so young?
Now that you have lost your Master,
you must work even more for the Path of the Tea.
So I will!
What other road is there for you, but becoming....a Master in your own right?
Were you with Rikyu, the last time he came?
Yes, I was, sir.
That day he gave me a treasure. The Chojiro tea bowl.
A delicate black and deep bowl. Come, you will drink from it.
Thank you, sir.
Six years after Rikyu's death,
Kokei, from Daitoku Temple also died.
It was the end of an era.
They were the two pillars of that era.
An era when Tea had a meaning for warriors.
But this era has vanished for ever.
The Path of Tea in that era...
Drinking Tea before waging war...
...plunging into war...
...getting killed...
I have drank Rikyu's tea... I am ready to die.
Very well.
Rikyu's Tea had a strength.
Contrary to that of the other Masters.
He reigned as an absolute master in the Tea World.
He had devoted his entire life to it.
His Tea was strength.
Thus, he became Hideyoshi's rival.
And Hideyoshi ordered him to die.
Still, I feel that he asked himself for his death.
His tea was a battle... with no swords.
Hideyoshi should've fought without a weapon....in Rikyu's Tea Room.
Then, he wouldn't have had...
Any chance.
Many times he entered... in Rikyu's Tea Roam...
Dozens of times... Hundreds of times.
And each and every time he had ta taste the bitter scent of defeat.
I see you like it.
Paar Hideyashl deprived of sword... drinking Tea,
forced to look at wood... so many sword strikes.
For him, defeat was death.
Of course...
He wanted to defeat Rikyu, be it only once.
Then, in the end, he banished Rikyu from Kyoto.
What drove him to this?
Have you any idea?
We will never know it.
It is late.
Stay here.
No, thank you.
I'd rather walk back, under the moonlight.
Do as you wish.
This river will always remind me of the day when Rikyu was banished.
His boat went down the river, taking away the prisoner.
Two weeks later, his death was ordered.
I know that My Lords Sansai and Oribe...
...came dawn to the river to see him go.
They thought that Hideyashi...
...would change his mind after Rikyu's departure...
...and that he 'II soon call him back.
Without this, they'd have never dared... to came to bid farewell...
...to a man hated by his Lord.
But...
...Rikyu must have been hearing the footsteps of death...
...getting ever closer.
It doesn't came hard to me to imagine the way he was looking then,
even if I didn't see him leave.
As I remember the terrible way he looked....for having seen it once on him.
It was the marrow of the day of September 4th, Tensha 16,
at Hldeyoshl's residence where Rikyu was living.
From now on we'll accommodate three guests from Daitoku Temple.
Shunnoko is the most important.
Kokei and Gyokuho are the other two.
I, of course, I am their host. Yes.
Everything must be perfect for this ceremony.
Yes, sir
But a ceremony?
A farewell ceremony...
...for Kokei who will be banished.
Banished, but why? I don't know.
I don't also know when, or if he'll be pardoned.
What manuscript will there be on the wall?
Kido's poem.
The one Lord Hideyoshi entrusted you with?
Without his authorization? You risk being punished...
This is my goal.
Very well!
The poem...
...was perfect for the situation. It went:
"The wise man is ready to leave. "
"Let's pray he may soon come back and tell us his story. "
The poem was like a farewell for the priest sentenced ta exile.
That was its only meaning.
But...
...holding a farewell ceremony for the one who has defied Hideyoshi,
and more, in his own residence!
What a host! What guests!
What an exile, he who accepts such a hospitality!
And the host's composure who uses...
...Hideyoshi's manuscript without authorization!
How courageous!
I wanted ta, quickly, remove Kida's poem from the wall.
But; when I came back...
They have departed.
Leave it for now.
Yes.
Honkaku!
Yes.
Would you like some light?
Is it that late?
He stayed like this for half of the day.
Thus, such was... his defiance of Hideyashi's power.
Such was his attitude in the boat.
He thus defied, in his manner; Hideyashi 's vengeance.
Master.
Lord Uraku wants to know the truth.
I do, also.
Never have I known such sadness...
...such pain, before this eventide.
What did really take place?
You're free to think what you wish. No, tell me, please.
Am I to tell you the agony I ended my life in?
Are you really that cold hearted?
Forgive me! Not a word more will I say!
Forgive me! I beg of you!
You're working hard.
Lord Uraku!
Is it for me that you came all this way? I've come to see you.
Really? Why would I lie?
Thank you.
This way, My Lord. This way.
I miss this part of Kyoto. It's invigorating.
I am happy to welcome you.
Forgive me for not having come to see you.
I've come to borrow the book...
The one Okano gave you. The one Saji's writing?
Will you lend it to me? Of course.
You could have sent me a message...
instead of coming yourself. It's a precious book.
On the other hand, I wanted to see your retreat.
Really? It definitely isn't worth the trouble.
You have intimate conversations with Rikyu, here, even after his death.
I envy you.
You're flattering me.
Would you like a real Tea?
I'm always keeping the teapot on the fire.
That sounds like you.
A poor man's room. Simple and clean. I like it.
Nothing formal, Master.
Very well. I already feel at ease.
Tell me about what Soji wrote.
Tell me in one word what it is all about.
In one word,
it's an initiation to the rare objects used in the Tea ceremony.
Only that... What?
It also is written...
"If I was to be summoned by Hideyoshi,"
"or sentenced to die, give this book to one of your disciples. "
"Summoned or sentenced to death? "
Yes, My Lord.
"Sentenced to death. "
Wonderful!
A strange and unforgettable scene stayed etched in my spirit.
Does it have anything to do with Soji?
It happened in one of Rikyu's Tea Rooms.
I had been serving him for a couple of years.
Little did I know about the guests we were receiving.
The Tea ceremony had been prolonged deep into the night.
And was still going an.
A poem including the word "void" takes nothing from us.
Light!
The one having the word "Death" takes everything we have.
"Void" takes nothing.
"Death" takes all.
Did it look like a terrible Fudo? Exactly.
Then he was Soji, undoubtedly.
His face was terrible, even by candlelight.
It may be that the manuscript on the wall carried the word "Death".
Nobody would've written that word. Soji would have.
It nevertheless is an admirable thought.
"Void" takes nothing. "Death" takes all.
Soji was one of Higeyoshi's Tea Masters.
He was banished having offended the Taiko.
Then, when Hideyoshi attacked Odawara castle, Soji was there.
As if getting himself caught on purpose.
He was ordered to make the Tea...
...for Hideyashi.
Wait.
You are renowned as being Rikyu's best disciple.
What are you doing?
Stop!
You are doing it the wrong way so as to humiliate me.
You are right.
It is not the way of Rikyu.
I told you to make it the true way.
But, mine is the best one.
Silence!
You are supposed to serve the Kampalru. Kampalru Hideyoshi, Chancellor.
You are the most powerful and though you boast your power.
You will never attain the Path of Tea this way.
The wabicha style is destined to a true Master.
It is not for you.
Cut his nose and ears!
That's far enough. Let's separate.
Yes. I will miss you. Stay in good health.
I'm back, Master.
Lord Uraku has left for Kyoto.
Very well.
People still talk about me.
Dead or alive, I'm never left alone.
Forgive me. It is not your fault.
Shall I make you Tea? Yes.
Later tonight, I'll make it for you.
Why are you so sad, Master? I am not sad.
I was not racked...
by any sadness on this cold and dark road.
In my dream you were telling me to leave. And I obeyed.
Very well.
You mustn't use Tea to make a living.
Times are a-changin', as does the Path of the Tea.
Soji and me are the last of our kind.
Did Soji really commit hara-kiri as it's being said?
Does it matter?
The way he lived and died only matters to him.
Had they cut his ears and nose...
...his death is one of a Grand Master of the Tea.
That strange night, in your Tea Room,
$0]: was next to you.
Yes...
Who else?
Who else could've suited?
But someone was there.
The place stayed empty. But someone...
Forget it. Little matters who it was.
Some are suited, others are not.
You can choose someone for me.
On february 28th, the anniversary of Rikyu 3 death,
I was going to his grave at Daitalru Temple.
There, I saw again Lord Uraku.
I've finished Soji's book I borrowed from you.
I was about to bring it back when the thought about Odawara came into my mind.
Soji made Tea for the warriors inside the castle,
while, on the outside, Rikyu was making Tea the men in Hideyoshi's army.
They drank Tea and died... Friends and foes.
Rikyu saw lots of men run to their death.
How many?
They drank his Tea and left for battle and died.
How could he have expected a natural death for himself?
He helped them die, wasn't it so?
His Tea Room was a place where men...
...prepared themselves for death.
Oribe also...
Its name?
"Life"
I wanted to assist to such a sober Tea ceremony.
I'm afraid it's not that easy in our times.
Times have changed.
Tea must change also. Warriors as well as artists.
After Rikyu, it's Oribe's time.
Can you talk to me about him?
After Rikyu's death I shut myself away.
The only person I was seeing was Father Toyo.
Then, our long troubled age ended with the coming...
...of a new ruler.
It's been ten years now, in KEICHO 15.
I found out that Oribe served Shogun leyasu...
...as a Grand Tea Master.
I considered the time had come for me to go and see him.
I went to his residence.
Welcome.
You look fine. You also, My Lord.
What is it? Nothing.
You make Tea the way our Master did.
I'm glad to hear that.
And that?
It's like seeing Master Rikyu again.
I sit next to him when I'm alone.
"Simplicity, poverty, modesty, all united in the Heart of Tea. "
His whole philosophy is in this.
"Always remember the Path of Tea in your everyday life. "
"Never take making Tea lightly. "
One needs a harsh self-discipline.
He abided by his awn wards.
Up to the moment he had to commit suicide.
Why would he want to get rich selling Tea utensils?
Or display a statue of himself to boast his power?
Rikyu was lucky.
You understand him so well. Yes.
But there's one thing I don't know. His feelings towards death.
During these last two weeks, in his home town,
what was he thinking?
What were his feelings?
You've served him for a long time,
what do you think? Well...
I don't know...
He could have saved his life, had he apologized.
There must have been a way to pacify Hideyoshi's wrath.
And still, he didn't apologize.
He didn't ask for anyone's help.
There's something else I want to show you.
Something new to you.
He made this Tea spoon for me.
Did he put his last feelings into it?
It's called "Tears".
The case had the farm of a mortuary abject.
After all, I was not the only one to have lived to Rikyu.
"Tears"
Now, I think I understand Oribe.
How was that, My Lord? I would like to know.
Oribe followed Rikyu in the grave.
In the grave? That was his desire.
He had devoted himself to Rikyu.
The new ruler exterminated Hideyoshi's son's followers.
Oribe was arrested for having served Hideyashi as Tea Master.
Had he asked me, I could have saved him.
He didn't.
As Rikyu hadn't apologized when he had died,
Oribe also didn't do it.
It was Oribe who had taken part at that strange Tea ceremony.
It must have been him.
A poem including the word "void" takes nothing from us.
' Light! ' Yes!
The one having the word "Death" takes everything we have.
"Void" takes nothing. "Death" takes all.
The three men sitting there...
...must have agreed and made a silent vow.
A death vow.
You are saying...
...that Oribe followed Rikyu to his grave, but...
...may it be that he went by his vow?
His vow?
Maybe.
Soji commited hara-kiri, as Rikyu did...
And Oribe as well...
Now...
...there is now Tea Master as brave, as great.
I won't kill myself.
Still, I am a true Tea Master.
It was in the month of December of the following year.
I had left to bring food...
...for the New Year celebrations.
His hermitage is down there. Thank you.
You must be Master Sotan.
Honkaku!
You remember me!
Of course. I've come to see you.
I've been looking for you. You have?
Since grandfather Rikyu died, you've been hiding.
Some people said they had seen you in the village, others in the mountains.
I haven't managed to find where you were but recently.
You were only 14 years old. when Master Rikyu died.
You've fully grown up now.
Tell me...
Why was my grandfather killed?
What happened to him?
During the six months preceding his death,
he sometimes celebrated as many as three Tea ceremonies a day,
almost one hundred in all.
I had never seen him so serious, so absorbed.
"A Tea Master should make Tea alone. "
I thought he was trying to pass on his beliefs...
...through his attitude.
And Tailra-sama took part in five of these ceremonies.
But, one day when Rikyu was receiving Lord leyasu,
Hideyoshi became displeased with him.
That changed everything.
Why?
Hideyoshi revered him so, granted him so many privileges,
but, suddenly, he became enraged.
There only is one way to explain that.
Only one?
Yes.
Hideyoshi waited to fulfill one ambition.
He had been dreaming about it for a long time. The Korea invasion.
But Rikyu was against it and, obviously, spoke accordingly.
Then...
His words ended up by getting to Hideyoshi's ears.
That is why he was punished...
Hanlralru-sama! Are you in there?
It's Daitoku who's sent me...
Lord Uraku is very sick.
He is dying.
I've brought a horse for you. Hurry up, I beg of you.
Is it the sound of hail?
Yes, Master.
Yes, the hail is covering up the earth.
Honkaku. Yes.
Would I have the right to step along that road...
...you dreamed about?
No.
...Not unless I commit hara-kiri...
...and I die an honorable death.
At least...
...I'd like to know what Rikyu felt when he died.
Who could tell me that?
I could.
Allow me.
Please, it'd make me so happy.
Every night, I speak to my Master.
I see him in my dream.
The other night he told me, in his way,
what he had felt when death was closing in on him.
In your dream? Yes.
On TENSHO 19, February 26th, he was suddenly summoned to Kyoto.
On the 28th,
when an the verge of celebrating...
...his last Tea ceremony...
My Lord.
Welcome to my Tea Roam.
I've met you for the first time fifteen years ago...
...in Lord Oda's new castle's Tea Room.
Since that day, for fifteen years, I've been in your service...
...and today I will be leaving.
Not need to. It isn't that serious.
Is that so, My Lord? It is your wish.
Don't be so stubborn. You've given me a lot...
A high station and the power to create...
...and keep the Path of the Tea alive.
And now, finally, death.
It is the greatest of your gifts.
Your order to die helped me understand the Path of the Tea for the first time.
I thank you for that.
Your order to die has set my spirit and body free.
I used to talk about the beauty and simplicity of the Path of the Tea,
but without really understanding it.
Now that death is suddenly by my side,
that I am looking her into the eyes,
no confusion is possibly any more.
"Simplicity" seems naked, dense,
like a dead man's skeleton.
That may be the case, but let's put it behind us.
Don't be obstinate, says I.
During the years of our association,
you have accepted the whole of Rikyu as Tea Master.
You've always used what was of service to you.
But, for the first time, you got rid of me,
of my merits as well as of my shortcomings.
That can also be said of you.
During our association you also have used me.
Yes.
That's true.
Still, you have drawn your sword.
This leaves me with no other choice but...
...drawing mine against you.
As you have rules you have to follow, as Taiko,
I have mine I have to observe, as Tea Master.
You should have sheathed your sword, or kill me with one strike,
in a fit of anger.
I heard your voice when you ordered...
...I leave in exile.
"The Tea? The beauty of simplicity"?
"That means nothing to me. "
"It is but a game. "
Rikyu!
You acted, at last. as a true ruler.
So that have ta act as a true Tea Master.
Thanks to you I can, at last; awake from a long nightmare.
With Hideyoshi, Rikyu tried to establish in this world...
...a mall space freed from richness and power,
from all ideas and contingencies of life.
Of course, such a place could not have been.
All he had to do was sit there, all by himself.
Yes....Exactly.
Still, he tried to share all of that with Tailra-sama...
...and many others.
What a terrible error... He didn't understand it...
...until he was ordered to die.
Or, rather, he remembered what he had forgotten for a long time.
Meaning?
His revelation when he built his first little Tea Room.
His escape from the earthly world.
This Tea Room was built following my order.
I have the right to be in it. It is not destined for you,
but for me, My Liege.
It is a fortress for Rikyu, the Tea Master.
A lonely fortress where I'd like to fight alone the earthly world.
My poetry master used to say:.
"The end game of the Path of Poetry is dark and cold. "
"And such should be the one of the Path of Tea, dark and cold. "
Since I was sent into exile...
...I've been facing death.
Death is my guest, and, sometimes, my host.
I think this could be...
the end game of the Path of Tea. That's enough.
You don't need to commit hara-kiri.
Forget about it. Make me another cup.
That can not be!
It'll be the last ceremony.
Many are those waiting to experience it.
What?
Many of them have found death...
...in the battles fought against you.
You should have taken care.
And now, My Liege, I bid you adieu.
Who is it?
Honkaku.
I came to say farewell.
I am very flattered.
Came in. Yes.
We have already taken leave on this dark and cold road.
Yes, we have.
Master!
This road is for me only.
It is not for you.
But why? It is the road of Rikyu.
Each Tea Master has his own.
Good or bad.
Rikyu chose this dark and cold road,
like the Path of Tea is in these obscurantist days.
Where does this road lead, Master?
The eternity.
But, were it that an age of peace came, it would lead to oblivion.
The final end game.
This road is mine.
It must, thus, disappear come my death.
Your road...
I understand.
I have no regrets.
I am strengthened.
The guests are in the Tea Room.
I have to go there, too!
Now...
Those entering the Tea Room are:
Shogun Tokugawa leyasu...
Lord Maeda...
...poet Jo-o...
...Lord Mori...
...the Lord of Sado, Seyakuin,
Lord Sansai,
Lord Takayama,
and Tea Masters , Sowa and Soan,
Ifokel, Shunnoku, Gyokuho.
The Lords Matsunaga, Alrechl} Miyashi and Ishida.
Father Toyo.--
Honkaku.
I am here, My Liege.
My Master...
GENWA 17, December 13th
Lord Uraku passes away.