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A Tea Room Made of Gold? The Truth Behind Hideyoshi's Golden Tea Room
Hideyoshi's portable golden tea room — gold-foil from floor to ceiling — was the polar opposite of Rikyu's wabi aesthetics, designed to serve tea to the Emperor as political theater.
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Hideyoshi’s portable golden tea room — covered floor to ceiling in gold foil, with all utensils in gold — was first used to serve tea to Emperor Ogimachi in 1585. It represented the polar opposite of Rikyu’s wabi philosophy and symbolized Hideyoshi’s power and his rags-to-riches ambition.
Portrait of Hideyoshi — his flamboyant golden aesthetic was also a strategy to display power as a man of humble origins
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Tea ceremony scene — in contrast to the golden room, Rikyu's wabi-cha sought beauty in simplicity
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Daitokuji in Kyoto — the Zen temple linked to Rikyu, and one of the settings for the breakdown of his relationship with Hideyoshi
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
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Key Figures
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Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Taiko, Ruler of All
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Sen no Rikyu
Master of Wabi-cha Tea Ceremony
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