Tōzenji’s tearoom is an eight-mat room with a small preparation room. The word tearoom (chashitsu 茶室) in this context means a room specifically designed for the practice of the Way of Tea (chadō), an art form and discipline unique to Japan but now practiced in many countries throughout the world.

Just as in the martial arts, tea students continue taking lessons week by week with no goal in sight. It is a continuous practice by which one enters through the form (how to move, where to put things, the order of the procedures, etc.) to eventually grasp the deeper significance of the activity through the activity itself rather than through the intellect. Of course the prime consideration is the heartfelt interaction between host and guest.

The tearoom was given the name Zuikōken (瑞光軒 Room of Auspicious Light) by the 15th generation head of the Urasenke tradition of chanoyu, Sen Sōshitsu XV, in 1990.

The Tea Room
茶室