The Anniversary of the 47 Ronin's tale and the Tea Room Project: 14 December, 2024

In Japan, traditions are not just preserved, they are celebrated, reinterpreted, and passed down from generation to generation. Today, December 14, is the day on which the Land of the Rising Sun celebrates the 47 Ronin each year, commemorating the immortal and legendary honor of these Samurai, a powerful reminder of an ethical code rooted in history and anthropology linked to the values of loyalty, sacrifice, and extreme rigor.  

The Immortal Honor of the Samurai

The Legend of the 47 Ronin takes us back to 1701, when the young daimyo Asano Naganori, involved in a conflict with Kira Yoshinaka, a court official known for his arrogance, was condemned to seppuku, the practice in which the samurai takes his own life in shame to preserve his honor. An act that left his loyal samurai without guidance and turned them into ronin - the word for masterless samurai.

Led by Oishi Kuranosuke, the ronin decided to avenge their master's death, and, after two years of secret preparation, they entered Kira Yoshinaka's house and killed him. A gesture that challenged conscience and morality, caught between their absolute loyalty to their Master, and Japanese law that does not justify murder. As such, the 47 Ronin also turned themselves in to the authorities and accepted their sentence of seppuku, as mandated by the samurai code of honor, bushido, meaning “the way of the warrior”. Thus, death renewed the sacrifice necessary to honor their Master and loyalty. The history of the Ronin is a cornerstone of Japanese culture that allows us to grasp the richness of traditions comprised of fascinating rules, values, and rituals.

One such tradition is the tea ceremony (chanoyu), a practice of peace and contemplation based on strict principles of discipline, where every gesture, word, and action calls for the utmost solemnity and mindfulness. This age-old ritual — where the ephemeral beauty of a single moment is experienced through the principles of harmony (wa), respect (kei), purity (sei), and tranquility (jaku), inviting profound reflection on the ethics and value of each individual moment — is a concrete example of the traditional Japanese lifestyle and moral depth.

This tradition incorporates a philosophy and ritual that teaches awareness of and appreciation for humankind’s impermanence and precarious condition. The idea that each encounter is unique (ichi-go ichi-e) permeates this practice, where participants are called upon to reflect on the idea that each moment is unrepeatable.

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The Tea Room: A Philosophy Beyond Ritual

Shiro Nakada's Tea Room — designed in partnership with i-Mesh — is a modern reinterpretation of the ancient tea ceremony that embodies these timeless principles of ritual and tradition as it opens to innovation.

Nakada's vision for the Tea Room integrates materials and design elements that align perfectly with this philosophy.

Exhibited in Tokyo in 2023, the temporary installation features two lightweight, permeable cube-shaped structures. The first cube, made of fiberglass panels in a Morellet pattern scaled to 150%, represents precision and order; the second, made of carbon fiber in a chaotic pattern named Random, introduces a sense of spontaneity and organic flow. The chromatic and semantic juxtaposition of elements and structures testifies to the union of tradition and modernity, creating a space that is simultaneously minimalist and fraught with meaning — an invitation to the global reinterpretation of chanoyu.

Designer Shiro Nakada recognized that i-Mesh — a material that adapts to its surrounding settings and contexts — has the unique feature of being similar to nature itself, thanks to its ability to interact with light, wind, and sound, swaying like a leaf and reminiscent of bamboo, a beloved essence in Japan. Transparency and porosity allow natural elements to flow seamlessly into the dynamic spaces of the Tea Room, in pursuit of the Japanese essence and aesthetics that are always the preferred path to a deeper sense of enlightenment and knowledge. Shiro Nakada's Tea Room shows how a material can become a thought, a bridge between past and future, tradition and innovation.

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