The art of Japanese Hospitality

The exhibition The Beauty of Hospitality: Gatherings of Noh and Tea, on view at the Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum in Tokyo from November 22 to December 21, 2025, explores the interplay between Noh theatre and the Tea Ceremony through the refined tradition of hospitality cultivated by the Sumitomo family. Around sixty works are presented, including stage costumes, theatrical instruments and tea utensils once owned by Sumitomo Kichizaemon Tomoito, known as Shunsui, the fifteenth head of the family, who transformed the art of hosting into a sophisticated cultural practice. The display recreates the atmosphere of the gatherings organized by Shunsui, where Noh and Cha no yu were not merely forms of entertainment but occasions to refine details and show attention to guests. A key figure in this story was Onishi Ryotaro, actor and collector, who collaborated with Shunsui as both instructor and companion in artistic practice, contributing to the enrichment of the collection. Records of the ceremonies reveal utensils carefully chosen, reflecting a taste that merged aesthetic refinement and hospitality. Highlights of the exhibition include Noh costumes worn by Shunsui, objects used by his predecessors, and lacquered tea containers decorated with maki-e. Dyed fabrics and metal ornaments testify to the technical sophistication of a tradition that unites performing art and ritual. Each object becomes part of a silent form of communication, in which hospitality itself is expressed as a cultural and aesthetic act. The exhibition does not merely display historical objects but invites visitors to reflect on the meaning of omotenashi, Japanese hospitality understood as an active practice, a way of bringing people together, transmitting values and creating shared experiences. Noh and the Tea Ceremony emerge as tools through which culture is perpetuated, not only as tradition but as an everyday gesture of beauty and relationship.