As autumn begins to make its presence felt, we have given the tokonoma, the alcove in our tea room, a seasonal touch.

Last month, we arranged Rindō (Japanese gentian), one of the flowers traditionally associated with autumn in the tea ceremony, in a Shigaraki-yaki flower vase from Shiga Prefecture. The flower’s soft, understated colors create a quiet harmony with the rustic beauty of the vase, evoking the simple and serene spirit of wabi.

Rindō blooms from summer through autumn. Its name is said to have come from the intense bitterness of its roots. It is also cherished in the Urasenke tradition of tea ceremony as a seasonal flower that brings a sense of the changing seasons into the tea room.

At our tea experience, you can enjoy not only matcha and traditional Japanese sweets, but also the seasonal shitsurae—the ever-changing arrangement of the tokonoma that reflects the beauty of each season.