09/09/2026
September 9 is Chōyō no Sekku,
a traditional Japanese seasonal festival also known as
the Chrysanthemum Festival.
Today, WACHA officially introduced
the life and work of
Hanasennin (Nagakazu Kato, 1917–1998),
grandfather of WACHA founder Hanayo Kato,
and the company’s efforts
to preserve and pass on his Raku tea bowls.
Hanasennin studied oil painting
under Takeji Fujishima
at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts,
now Tokyo University of the Arts,
and exhibited copperplate prints with the
Japan Print Association
before the war interrupted his artistic career.
After losing his family home and most of his
oil paintings during the war,
he settled in Kugenuma, Fujisawa,
where he built a kiln at his home and
devoted himself to creating Raku tea bowls.
Around 1954,
he also propagated dahlia tubers in Fujisawa
and sent them free of charge to railway stations
across the Kanto region,
bringing flowers to station grounds.
As dahlias belong to the same botanical family as chrysanthemums, today feels especially meaningful for sharing his story.
Nearly 1,000 of his Raku tea bowls
are still preserved by the founder’s family.
WACHA began with the discovery of these bowls. Rather than preserving them only as objects to be viewed,
we hope to pass them on through the living experience of preparing matcha,
holding the bowl, and tasting tea from it.
On October 24 and 25, 2026,
WACHA will present a matcha tasting experience using Hanasennin’s Raku bowls
at JAPAN TEA EXPO 2026 in Tokyo.
All seminar sessions are fully booked,
but WACHA will also be exhibiting at
Booth C6 on the 6th floor throughout the event.
Press release (in Japanese):
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000042.000092382.html
Hanasennin Official Website
(Japanese / English):
https://www.hanasennin.com/
WACHA株式会社のプレスリリース（2026年9月9日 10時30分）戦火を越え、手のひらから生まれた一碗。WACHA、JAPAN TEA EXPO 2026で花仙人の楽茶碗による抹茶飲み比べ体験を開催
