Fuyuko Kobori

Fuyuko Kobori (born December 28, 1985) is a Japanese Grand Tea Master and the 17th generation head of the Kobori Enshu School of Tea.

Fuyuko Kobori was born to Yuko and Soen Kobori, the 16th Iemoto. of the Kobori Enshu School of Tea.^[1] From the age of six, she learned the art of tea ceremony from her father. Fuyuko earned her bachelor's degree from the Department of Economics, School of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University.^[2] She then dedicated herself to the Kobori Enshu school office as an assistant to the Iemoto and a lecturer at the school's study group. In 2025, Fuyuko Kobori became the First Female Iemoto^[3] of the Kobori Enshu School.

Fuyuko is active in a wide range of traditional and contemporary tea-related events. She often collaborates with artists, musicians and butoh^[4] dancers, organizing tea ceremonies at contemporary art exhibitions and performances abroad.

As the first female Iemoto of the Kobori Enshu School ^[5] and the first Iemoto with a foreign spouse, she leads a group of nearly 1,000 students nationwide, as a figurehead for women's leadership in Japanese culture. Fuyuko is not only responsible for passing on her family's culture to the next generation, but she is also breaking into a role that has been served only by men as heads of their Iemoto households. She plans to pursue research on women and traditional culture as her life's work and is the proud mother of two sons, Masanobu and Masanao.

• Gokokuji Temple^[6] (Tokyo)
• Imperial Hotel ^[7] (Tokyo)
• Koho-an Temple (Kyoto)
• Ueno Toshogu Shrine^[8] (Tokyo)
• Embassy of Japan^[9] (Jordan)

• Oprah Winfrey - American TV host, producer, actress, and author.^[10]
• Gayle King - American television personality, author, and broadcast journalist for CBS News.^[11]
• Ava DuVernay - American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer.^[12]

• Shozo Michikawa (artist) Born in 1953. Shozo Michikawa was born on the northern most island in Japan, Hokkaido. He initially had a career in business after graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University, but took up evening classes in art where he discovered his talent and passion for pottery.^[13]
• Chiaki Horikoshi (artist) Born in 1948, Tokyo. After graduating with a major in oil painting from Tokyo University of the Arts, Chiaki went traveling around Europe. Settled in Madrid in 1976 as an exchange student sponsored by the Spanish government...Received the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize for "Takemitsu Toru Complete Works (Shogakukan)". Elected as the Japanese representative for "most beautiful book in the world" at Leipzig...received a civilian award for distinguished service from the Spanish government. 2016, passed away in Madrid.^[14]
• Alex Kerr (author) Born June 16, 1952, Alex Kerr is an American writer and Japanologist. An expert on Japanese culture and art, he frequently writes and lectures in Japanese. Through his experiences in Japan, as related in his books, he has become an avid art collector and patron of Japan's traditional theatre and other arts.^[15]
• Terry Rosenberg (artist) born 1954. is an American artist, known for painting, sculpture, and drawings that reference the body.^[16]
• Kjell Hahn (artist & founder of Shiro Oni Studio international artist residency) American artist Kjell Hahn founded the residency in 2013. In 12 years the residency has hosted over 250 artists from 30 countries and has been featured in publications such as Vogue magazine, Soto Koto magazine, NHK television and Asahi, Jomo and Yomiuri newspapers. In 2021, he received an award for his international cultural exchange efforts from the governor of Gunma Prefecture.
• Anita Gratzer (artist) Growing up in the Austrian alps, Anita Gratzer began her professional career as an analogue photographer and graduated with honours from the University of Art in Linz, Austria. During her studies, Anita received her first scholarships from the Austrian Foreign Ministry to travel to Krakow and Paris. This was followed by numerous grants and awards, including the Austrian State Scholarship for Photography. As an artist she has been invited to China, South Korea, Iran, the Baltic States and multiple times to Italy, Finland, Japan and Switzerland. These residencies, which usually lasted several months, led to solo exhibitions and participations in biennials such as those in Nakanojo, Japan. Next to art-magazines, her work has been published in books by the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk, collected by institutions as Swatch, Switzerland and the Serlachius Foundation in Finland and was shown in Museums and galleries in Vienna, Shanghai, Daegu, New York, Tokyo and Rome.^[17]

• Sanchez, Eduardo (2024-04-10). "FX's "Shogun" celebrates the ancient tradition of the tea ceremony". Tea ceremony was very important for the life of samurai for them to be able to calm down, find peace, reflect on themselves. So it is a very important element of the lives of the characters that we're portraying in Shogun," explained Eriko Miyagawa, a "Shōgun" producer.
• King, Gayle (2024-04-11). "Inside Gayle and Oprah's Unforgettable Girls' Trip to Japan". I didn't quite know what to expect out of a tea ceremony, but I know it wasn't this. During the private ceremony at tea house in Gokokuji Temple, our host told us of the cultural history while demonstrating the ceremonial preparation of tea making.
• "KYOTO JOURNAL^[18] 97 Next Generations" (Shikoh-sha).(2020-04-01). April 1, 2020.https://kyotojournal.org/product/kyoto-journal-issue-97/ "This issue shines a light in particular on the youth of Japan, whether bringing new relevance to traditional industries and the arts or spearheading the local extensions of global movements. What changes and obstacles do they anticipate will face the generation after them? In a time of transitions—the start of the Reiwa Era, the turn of the decade, the return of the Olympics—KJ97 looks to those engaged in shaping the next phase of Japan’s history. Guest edited by Ty Billman."
• LUXEAT:^[19] Interview with 17th-Generation Tea Master Fuyuko Kobori. (2018-03-27). Article posted on February 27, 2018: https://www.luxeat.com/blog/17th-generation-tea-master-fuyuko-kobori/
• Vogue Travel: Tea Ceremonies and Kiln Firings. (2016-11-14). November 14, 2016. https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/travel-city-japan-ceramics-pottery-simone-bodmer-turner

• Official site
• Kobori Enshu School of Tea