Kunihiko Sokan Horinouchi, 59, is not just the 13th master of the tea house Horinouchi Choseian, one of the two subdivisions of the Omotesenke, a major school of traditional Japanese tea ceremony. As the head of one of the two families which, for generations, have been supporting the Omotesenke tradition and also supporting the school's grand master, now the 14th Sen Sousa, Horinouchi (left) also takes it upon himself to emphasize that tea making is not just an art, but also a science.
Some may wonder what place science could ever have in chanoyu (the way of tea), that aesthetic and highly structured method of preparing green tea from powdered leaves in the company of guests.
According to Horinouchi, though, there's no disjuncture at all.