Furuta Shigenari

Place: Mino Province (Now In Gifu Prefecture)

Born: 1544

Death: 1615

Biography:

Furuta Oribe was a distinguished figure in the history of the Japanese tea ceremony. He was born in Mino province (now in Gifu prefecture), Japan in 1544 and died in Kyōto in 1615. He was the principal disciple of Sen no Rikyû and was considered the greatest tea master alive after his teacher’s death. He was also a samurai and served as tea master to the warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was the founder of the Oribe school of the tea ceremony and developed an artistic taste so boldly different from the somber Raku ware of Rikyū, that even now Oribe ware is still popular in Japan.