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Lot Essay
Itamiya Sofu (d. 1630) was a wealthy merchant in Sakai, the port adjacent to Osaka. He was famous as a man of tea, having studied tea ceremony with Kobori Enshu (1597-1647). Sofu was very close to Takuan; he wrote an inscription on a portrait of Takuan.
Takuan was a major figure in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. He was the second son of one of the most important retainers of Lord Yamana of Tajima Province (Hyogo Prefecture) and began his study of Zen at a local temple in 1591. He then moved to Kyoto to train at Daitokuji Temple under Shun'oku Soen (1529-1611), who gave him the name Soho. In 1606, he became the 153rd abbot of Daitokuji, but he resigned after three days. He subsequently moved to Nanshuji Temple in Sakai, where he took the name Takuan. In 1632, after a period of exile in Dewa Province (Yamagata Prefecture) for opposition to government policy, he returned to Daitokuji. The third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, studied Zen with Takuan.
Takuan was a major figure in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. He was the second son of one of the most important retainers of Lord Yamana of Tajima Province (Hyogo Prefecture) and began his study of Zen at a local temple in 1591. He then moved to Kyoto to train at Daitokuji Temple under Shun'oku Soen (1529-1611), who gave him the name Soho. In 1606, he became the 153rd abbot of Daitokuji, but he resigned after three days. He subsequently moved to Nanshuji Temple in Sakai, where he took the name Takuan. In 1632, after a period of exile in Dewa Province (Yamagata Prefecture) for opposition to government policy, he returned to Daitokuji. The third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, studied Zen with Takuan.