Front row, from left: Sokyo Inouye, Kankai Onozawa Osho, Soryo Bratton and Sosetsu Kuramoto.

The San Francisco Urasenke Association held its annual Mugenki memorial tea ceremony on Aug. 10 at the Nichi Bei Kai Cultural Center Kansoan tea room in San Francisco.

Hosting the event on behalf or the Urasenke organization were Soryu Bratton, Sokyo Inouye and Sosetsu Kuramoto, with 65 members and guests in attendance.

The afternoon began with hanayose, a traditional memorial offering of flowers, by President Hisao Hiro and teachers Soko Takeuchi and Soryoku Yokoyama. The first seating at noon was hosted by Inouye and assisted by Kuramoto. The first guest was Kankai Onozawa, the retired abbot of the Jukoin Zen Temple at Daitokuji in Kyoto.

The 1 p.m. seating was hosted by Bratton and assisted by Inouye, with Soga Fujimoto as the first guest. The final 2 p.m. seating was hosted by Kuramoto and assisted by Inouye and the first guest was Somin Oshina.

In the alcove was a scroll written by Tantansai that read, “Nichi nichi kore konnichi” (Every day is a good day). The main bowl for the tea was Ohi ware from Kanazawa, made by the 10th-generation Chozaemon Ohi. The second bowl had a lacquer design of the moon and rabbit by Shunsai Maehata.

A sasa makie (bamboo design) lacquer tea container was made by Gaho Maehata, the father of Shunsai Maehata. The bamboo tea scoop was made by Sen Genshitsu Daisosho, the 15th-generation Urasenke head tea master. It had the poetic name “tomo no wa” (friends in harmony).

The main sweets were in the shape of the morning glory flower by Chikara Mochi in Gardena, and had the poetic name “kaze no sasayaki” (the gentle sound of the wind). The guests enjoyed an afternoon memorializing Tantansai’s contribution to the tea ceremony.

For more information, call Larry Tiscornia at (415) 752-6944, or e-mail teatimes@chanoyu.com.