Medici, abdicated the Shōgun's throne in order to devote himself altogether to refined pleasures in his gorgeous palace of Ginkakuji at Kyōto, in the company of his favourites, the pleasure-loving Buddhist abbots Shukō and Shinnō. From this trio of royal and religious voluptuaries are derived several of the rules for tea-drinking that still hold good. The tiny tea-room of only four and a half mats (nine feet square) apparently dates from then. Shinno was a great connoisseur of antiquities and of what we now term curios. He was also the first to manufacture a certain kind of teaspoon, whence arose the custom of tea-fanciers manufacturing their own spoons.
All through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the tea ceremonies continued to enjoy the unabated favour of the Japanese upper classes. The gift of some portion of a tea-service, such as a bowl or cup, was the most valued mark of condescension which a superior could bestow. We read of high-born warriors neglecting their sword for the sake of the tea-pot, and of their being cashiered therefor, of others dying bowl in hand when their castles were taken by the enemy, or sending their tea-things away privately as their chiefest treasure. Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, two of the greatest military rulers of Japan, were both enthusiastic votaries of the tea ceremonies. Hideyoshi probably gave the largest tea-party on record, the card of invitation being in the form of an official edict which is still preserved. All the lovers of tea in the empire were, by this singular document, summoned to assemble at a certain date under the pine grove of Kitano, near Kyōto, and to bring with them whatever curios connected with tea-drinking they possessed, it being further decreed that all such as failed to respond to the summons should be debarred from ever taking part in the tea ceremonies again. This was in the autumn of 1587, the time when the Invincible Armada was being equipped for the ceremonies of war. The tea-party seems to have been successful. It lasted ten days, and Hideyoshi fulfilled his promise of drinking tea at every booth. The tenants of some of the booths were
