Sakai Plaza of Rikyu and Akiko

Sakai Rishō no Mori is a cultural tourism facility that opened in March 2015 in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, where visitors can learn about tea master Sen no Rikyū—who perfected the tea ceremony—and poet Yosano Akiko, and experience Sakai’s history and culture. Sen no Rikyū served Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a tea master and is known as the great innovator of wabi-cha; he spent most of his life in Sakai. Yosano Akiko is known for works such as the poetry collection Midaregami and the poem “Kimi Shinitamō Koto Nakare,” and also contributed through her modern Japanese translation of The Tale of Genji and social commentary. Facilities related to Rikyū include the “Tea Ceremony Museum,” hands-on tea experience spaces, and “Sakai Taian,” a craftsmen-built reproduction of “Taian,” the National Treasure tea room at Myōki-an in Ōyamazaki, Kyoto, attributed to Rikyū. Facilities related to Yosano Akiko include the Yosano Akiko Memorial Museum. The complex also serves as a starting point for Sakai sightseeing, with an information exhibition room introducing Sakai’s historical and cultural resources through touch panels and tablets.