Shizuoka, the warm, sunny prefecture known for its peaceful hillsides where tea bushes grow, has always been home to Shizuo Mochizuki. His father kept a shop in Shizuoka where he sold Japanese cakes. Mochizuki says that neither tea bushes nor sweet cakes especially influenced him in choosing to make an avocation of the traditional Way of Tea. "I began to study when I was a student," he said. "At that time I really had no idea why, but from childhood I liked special Japanese things such as kimono, kabuki, traditional music."
He also liked Kyoto. "I loved the old buildings, the customs. It is very sad that so many old buildings have been destroyed, and replaced by new ones that do not fit the old city." Even so, Kyoto remains a spiritual home because of his association with the Urasenke International Association.
Mochizuki graduated from Shizuoka University in 1970 with a BA in Japanese literature. "I was very interested in languages," he said. "When I was young, I used to operate a ham radio, and talk on the radio free of charge. I learned English by myself."