If you are interested in attending the event, please fill out the registration form below.(Japanese page is here.)

【Purpose of Event】
– Experience Japanese culture, history, and nature those resonate with the sensibilities of all participants.
– Understand more deeply Japan and its culture by listening to the talks of outstanding religious leaders and experts from various fields, by experiencing tea ceremony utensils and other crafts and art works and the work of their creators.
– Especially, encourage the local revitalization in Nara and promote the crafts and works of artists in Nara.
– The event fee will be donated to Isuien Garden, for the maintenance and management of historical facilities sucha as Temples, shrines and etc., as a part of social contribution.

【Event Details】
You will spend a pleasant time in Isuien garden listening to the wind and birds singing in the garden, while experiencing the fragrance of flowers, Matcha, and the bamboo fragrance of the Takayama Chasen(tea whisk). You will be served a meal at Sanshutei Tea House in Isuien Front Garden and also a tea ceremony(Matcha Rakudo) in the garden.

【Date/Time】
10:30 – 15:00 on the following date
May 27 (Fri) Guest: Prof.Akio Okamoto, Visiting Professor, Nara Prefectural University
May 28 (Sat) Guest: Master Tetsujo Otani of Yakushiji Temple
(Guest speak in an hour)

【Others】
– Entry fee: 22,000 yen / person
For those who register by May 15, the fee will be 20,000 yen / person.
– Meeting place/time
Please gather at 10:20 in front of the ticket booth in the Isuien Garden. It is a 15-minute walk or 5-minute cab ride from Kintetsu Nara Station.
– Dress Code
Please come in casual attire. You are supposed to remove your footwear for the meal and tea ceremony room.
– What to bring
Nothing in particular is required.
– Payment
After you submit the registration below, we will send you the detail information of wire-transfer.
– Cancellation
Cancellations are possible, but no refunds will be made after payment has been made.

【About Yosuien and Neiraku Art Museum】
Isuien consists of two gardens, “Front Garden” on the west side, created in the early Edo Period(1673-1681) and “Back Garden” on the east side, created in the late Meiji era(1868-1912), as well as the Neiraku Museum of Art.

Dosei Kiyosumi of Akitaya, the organizer of the Nara-Sarashi(hemp fabric) and a merchant under the shogunate, built a villa on the banks of the Yoshiki River, where the bleaching industry was located, as a place to entertain guests and dignitaries.
“Sanshutei” and “Teishuken” were built as tea rooms with round windows and a sense of freedom.
In the mid-Meiji period, “Front garden” passed into the hands of a competitor, Touemon Seki, then, in 1899, his eldest son, Tojiro Seki, began restoration and maintenance of the buildings and garden, and also added a tea ceremony house and a pond garden, “Back Garden”, under the guidance of the 12th Yumyosai of the Urasenke, which took about 10 years.. In the spring of 1908, the construction of “Isuien” was completed, and the garden began to be used as a place where writers and artists were invited to master the art of elegance.
In 1939, the museum passed from Shintaro, Tojiro’s eldest son, to Junsaku Nakamura, a shipping company in Kobe, who established the Neiraku Museum of Art in 1940 (now the Meisho Isuien and Neiraku Museum of Art).
Junsaku collected Chinese metalware, Japanese tea ceremony utensils, calligraphy and paintings, Korean ceramics, and other works of art in the course of his shipping business, and prepared them for public display, however could not be opened to the public due to the outbreak of the war. In addition, most of the storehouse where art works were stored was destroyed by fire in the Kobe Air Raid of March 1945. The current collection of the Neiraku Museum of Art consists of approximately 4,000 works of art that survived the war. Isuien was confiscated by GHQ after the war, and when it was returned in 1953, the building had been remodeled and the garden was in a state of disrepair.
After the restoration, Junsuke Nakamura, Junsaku’s grandson began restoring the garden and buildings, and on June 1, 1958, Isuien was opened to the public for the first time, and the collection was exhibited twice a year in the spring and fall in the tea room inside the building.
The current museum was designed by Kenzo Higashihata in 1969, and began exhibiting its permanent collection the following year. The Isuien Garden was designated as a national garden of scenic beauty in 1975.

【The record of the Ambassador’s visit】
His Imperial Highness Prince Mikasa
His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu
1984 Jacques Delors, the 8th President of the European Commission from 
1992 Duke of Kent, Great Britain and the United Kingdom
1994 Patricio Aylwin Azocar, Former President of Chile
1999 Richard von Weizsäcker, Former President of Germany, Mr.Christian Dior
2015 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado
2018 Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko

【Organizer】
Matcha Rakudo

【Event Registration】