The reason officially announced for the sudden execution of Sen no Rikyu in 1591 was unsatisfactory to the point of absurdity. The real reason is a mystery that may never be resolved.

Whatever it was, the execution threw the world of chanoyu into turmoil. Rikyu's title of "Tenka-ichi Sosho (World's Foremost Teacher)" was no mere hyperbole; it was backed up by the might of his most famous student, the dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and carried real authority over the way tea was taught. After Rikyu's death the great question (apart from "Why?!") was who would succeed him.

The answer soon became clear: Furuta Oribe no Kami Shigenari, also known by the Buddhist names Kinpo, Sooku and Insai, but usually referred to simply as Oribe. From then until his own seppuku in 1615 Oribe's very distinctive taste dominated chanoyu. A huge show at the Mitsukoshi department store in Nihonbashi until June 11 highlights Hideyoshi, Oribe, his student Ueda Soko and the luxurious splendor of the Keicho Era (1596-1615), when Japan's reunification was completed in a grand finale of cultural and military fireworks.

Hideyoshi himself died only three years into the Keicho Era, but his taste for splendid display had led the way in an age of splendid display. Perhaps his most notorious excess was the golden tea room he had made in which to entertain the Emperor, high court nobles and important daimyo. The original was destroyed in the sack of Osaka Castle in 1615, but a reconstruction based on contemporary records makes a spectacular start to the show. The kettle, tea bowl, tea caddy and other usually ceramic or metal items are of solid gold; all else is covered with gold leaf. Presumably Hideyoshi's guests were impressed.

Rikyu and Oribe represent the two characteristic types of the Momoyama Period: Rikyu was a rich merchant of Sakai (now part of Osaka-fu); Oribe was a samurai who rose to daimyo rank under Hideyoshi. It is often suggested that Oribe's flamboyant taste reflects a difference between samurai and townsfolk style, but Oribe's friends included as many merchants as knights. It is more likely that his taste for the bizarre was spurred by the turbulent times, when the great were brought low and the lowly ascended the heights.

Perhaps Oribe's most important contribution was in de-emphasizing imported antique Chinese ceramics, which had played a central role in the tea fancy until then, but were priced far beyond the purse of ordinary knights and townsfolk. Oribe promoted the use of new Japanese-made wares, commissioning works especially for his use, and the flashy glazed style he favored is known as Oribe-yaki to this day. Not too surprisingly, the show is loaded with Oribe-yaki, including not only the familiar green-glazed ware but the less-often seen black Oribe as well. Out of some 112 ceramic items (including sets) in the show, 37 are Oribe-yaki.

Fanciful both in shape and decoration, Oribe-yaki might be seen as a reaction to Rikyu's extreme asceticism. Oribe brought a more relaxed attitude to tea, and some of the pieces are downright whimsical, like the owl-shaped incense burner. What are we to make of the black-Oribe "shoe-shaped" (i.e. slightly squashed) tea bowl with a large pentagram scratched in the black glaze of the mikomi?

Perhaps Oribe-yaki was a little too cheerful, though; it fell off in popularity after his death, and was regarded as almost an aberration until an archaeological dig in Kyoto's Sanjo area discovered the remains of a shop with a staggering variety of ceramics -- including a great deal of Oribe-yaki. Some pieces from this treasure-trove are included in the show.

Oribe's special orders were made for him in the kilns of Mino, whence other attractive ceramics such as Seto and Ki-Seto also came, but few of them appear here. Second in number is Iga-yaki from modern Mie Prefecture, a kiln which boomed to success under Oribe's patronage, and is still popular. Iga's heavy, warty, twisted and torn forms seem to have been made by trolls and fired in a volcano.

Also represented is gloomy gray Karatsu ware, from Korea by way of Kyushu, and earthy Bizen. Not seen is porcelain of any kind; it had no place in Oribe's tea.

Tea is not only about ceramics, of course, and articles made of wood and bamboo are an important part of the show. Many famous tea men made their own; Oribe enjoyed working in bamboo, and the show includes several of his chashaku (tea scoops) and flower-holders. Chashaku by such luminaries as Hosokawa Sansai, Oda Urakusai, Gamo Ujisato, Kato Kiyomasa and Hideyoshi himself can also be seen.

Oribe survived the transition to Tokugawa rule and won the personal favor of the second shogun, Hidetada. He never entirely cut his ties to the Toyotomi interests in Osaka, however, and when that party was destroyed in 1615 Oribe was found to have been in correspondence with them. His death was ordered. The torch of tea passed to Kobori Enshu, the leading figure of the Kan'ei Era (1624-1644), and to the revived Sen family which dominates tea today.

Among Oribe's disciples, however, was Ueda Soko, a samurai and close vassal of the Asano daimyo family. He was a bold and turbulent fighting man, the very type of the Warring States samurai. He and his master Asano Nagaakira distinguished themselves in 1615; in 1619 Nagaakira was granted Hiroshima as his domain (valued at 426,000 koku). Soko went with him and, receiving 10,000 koku for himself, served the Asano as a local official there.

Meanwhile, Enshu served as machi-bugyo (magistrate) of Fushimi in Kyoto, which kept him in the center of affairs and let him win the favor of the third shogun, Iemitsu. Enshu's chanoyu thus developed in the spirit of the peaceful, urbane Kan'ei culture, while off in Hiroshima Soko kept the flame of Oribe's Keicho tea. Like his teacher, Soko excelled in bamboo work, and the chashaku and flower-holders from his hand show a forceful character.

Ueda Soko died at last in 1650, aged 88, one of the last survivors of the reunification period. The house of Asano continued in possession of Hiroshima until the Restoration, and the house of Ueda continued in service to them, both as administrators and as tea masters. Soko's descendant Soshi is today the iemoto of the Ueda school of tea.

Though little known outside the Hiroshima area, Ueda chanoyu preserves a separate tradition from the Senke mainstream, a direct transmission from the lost lineage of Oribe. The treasures that their house has preserved for almost four centuries are a window on the Keicho Era. The show at Mitsukoshi opens that window for the first time in Tokyo, and everyone interested in that time should make haste to see it.