Chabana Sansô: A Unique Place Dedicated to Japanese Beauty and the Art of Tea
Chabana Sansô is a traditional Japanese house located in the small village of Mizuo, just 30 minutes from Kyoto Station (22 minutes by train to Hozukyo Station, followed by a 10-minute bus ride). Acquired in 2024 by Kuma, this house is designed to welcome those who are passionate about Japanese culture and the art of tea in all its forms: chanoyu, sencha, and gong fu cha.
A Place Brought to Life Through Community
This place can only thrive if different communities embrace it. If any of the following projects interest you, feel free to contact me today!
The Meaning Behind « Chabana »
The name « Chabana Sansô » has two inspirations:
- The flowers used in tea ceremonies, which symbolize seasonality and transience.
- The flowers of the tea plant, small, white, and delicate, blooming in autumn with a subtle fragrance.
1. Chabana Project: Celebrating the Beauty of Tea Flowers
At Chabana Sansô, tea is more than just a beverage; it is seen as a total art form, encompassing tea ceremonies, calligraphy, poetry, ceramics, textiles, cuisine, seasonal celebrations, and above all, flowers.
Chabana refers to a type of ikebana (flower arrangement) used in matcha tea ceremonies. This project aims to cultivate as many varieties of mountain flowers suitable for chabana as possible.
The environment surrounding the house — sunny fields, shaded rock gardens, and a small stream — provides ideal conditions for this project.
Challenge: Protecting these treasures from the animals of Atago Forest, who enjoy nibbling on young shoots.
This project is open to tea practitioners, chabana enthusiasts, or anyone who loves planting flowers and wishes to contribute to the cultivation of beautiful, fragile, and ephemeral flowers that mark the seasons. This is a rare opportunity, just 30 minutes from central Kyoto, to engage with tea flowers in such a dedicated setting.
2. The Tea of Mizuo: A Legacy in Every Leaf
Mizuo is home to vigorous wild tea plants, which are said to belong to the same variety as those found at Kozanji Temple in Takao (8 km away). Kozanji’s tea plants are believed to be the first planted in Japan, using seeds brought back from China by Eisai (栄西) in 1191.
Every autumn, these tea plants produce beautiful white flowers with a soft fragrance. Chabana Sansô’s long-term goal is to cultivate these wild tea plants and experiment with creating new types of tea from their leaves.
If you are interested in small-scale tea cultivation or experimenting with tea creation, this project is for you!
3. Chabako: Tea Set Competition and Global Tea Tastings
In modern Japan, owning a traditional tea room (chashitsu) is rare, but anyone can create a chabako — a portable tea set for enjoying tea anywhere.
Building a chabako, selecting the tools, arranging them, and varying them according to the seasons or occasions is a joyous process. However, opportunities to showcase and use these sets are limited.
At Chabana Sansô, you can:
- Bring your chabako to prepare tea in a beautiful natural setting.
- Participate in an annual chabako competition to award the most beautiful set.
Prize: The entire harvest from a Mizuo yuzu tree!
4. Wakan Rōeishū: Calligraphy Competition and Reference Creation
Asian calligraphy is an extraordinary art form, but it often involves copying texts whose meaning is unclear. At Chabana Sansô, the goal is to revive the Wakan Rōeishū, a collection of poems compiled over a thousand years ago by Fujiwara no Kintō. This poetic anthology, blending kanji and kana, is ideal for learning and creative expression.
This project is also deeply connected to local history, as Mizuo is the final resting place of Emperor Seiwa.
Project Steps:
- Create an online collaborative database of the complete and verified text.
- Search through digitized archives for the most beautiful calligraphic versions of each poem.
- Invite calligraphy teachers and artists, both domestic and international, to participate in a small-format competition at Mizuo.
- Organize the competition and an exhibition of the works.
- Produce a French translation of the text, based on Japanese interpretations.
- Publish a reference book compiling all these elements.
Chabana Sansô will also be a serene space for copying parts of the Wakan Rōeishū, much like the meditative practice of copying the Lotus Sutra.
5. Art Exhibitions: A Haven for Traditional Arts
Finding a quiet, beautiful space to host exhibitions can be challenging for traditional arts teachers and artists. Chabana Sansô offers free use of its rooms for displaying works such as:
- Calligraphy
- Photography
- Ceramics
- Chabana flower arrangements
- Sculpture, and more.
Contact me now to secure a place in the schedule for the coming months!
6. Concerts, Events, and Workshops
Chabana Sansô is also available to masters of traditional arts (Noh, music, dance, etc.) for concerts, demonstrations, and workshops.
Events can go beyond a single performance, offering an immersive full-day experience, including:
- Hiking to nearby sites (Seiwa Shrine, Atago Shrine).
- Tea ceremonies.
- Relaxation in nature, just 30 minutes from Kyoto.
Spaces are offered free of charge, but event organization is the responsibility of the hosts. Please contact me to reserve your preferred date.
Chabana Sansô: Where Nature, Tradition, and Creativity Meet
Each project is an invitation to celebrate Japanese beauty and create something meaningful together.
Join us today to bring Chabana Sansô to life!