Takemoto-School Surimono

During the late 18th century, Japanese culture was strongly influenced by Chinese traditions, such as the steeped-tea ceremony (sencha) illustrated here, and the demand for Chinese-style rituals increased tremendously. Intellectuals, samurai, well-educated townspeople, and artists came to advocate sencha, partly as a reaction against the conventionalism of chanoyu system. Large-scale production of the objects used in the ceremony, often based on imported Chinese objects, accompanied the growing interest in the sencha. Here Nagayama Kien depicted typical objects used in the sencha ceremony.
This is a memorial surimono for the 50-year anniversary of the death of the Takemoto school gidayu chanter Takemoto Sakidayu I (died 1779). Sakidayu worked as a chanter in Osaka and Kyoto Kabuki theaters. This print was commissioned by Machi and Yotsu Sakidayu and their family to celebrate their grandfather.