The Tea Family: Special Weekend with Guests from Afar

Santa Barbara is a city with spectacular events, exciting adventures, and a ton of surprises in between! The highlight of the season is Old Spanish Days with its confetti-ladened Fiesta celebrations, although the summer months are packed with fun stuff everywhere! One of my favorites is the Hawaiian Cruise aboard the Condor Express. The whale watching ship’s owner, Hiroko Benko, hinted that ‘special guests’ might be aboard this year who’d come a long, long way – piquing my curiosity and making it a weekend not to be missed!

Once on board I was greeted by (almost) the entire MClub membership shepherded by Maria McCall of Montecito Bank and Trust. Katherine Murray-Morse, Jill Nadia and Gary Simpson, Danuta Bennett, Diane Galvin and Marian Jean, and Bobbie and John Kinnear were among the passengers awaiting the mystery guests. But to the MClub those guests were no mystery! “Thanks to Hiroko, our guide, many of us were introduced to her ‘Tea Family’ on our last Club trip to Japan,” revealed McCall. “Not only that, but we were invited to participate in the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony at the home of Kobori Sojitsu, the 13^th Grand Tea Master of the Enshu Sado School, who serves the Emperor along with many others.

Case solved! First cousin Kimiko Kobori, the Tea Master’s wife, her daughter Yuko Kobori, a schooled Tea Master, and son-in-law Shundo Fukuda arrived on board to be smothered by hellos and hugs from a cluster of MClub members. After more meet-and-greets and photo ops, the family joined the passengers for Hula dancing, having fun, and celebrating the day while cruising along our beautiful Santa Barbara coastline. The highlight of their visit, however, was yet to come. 

The following day the ‘Tea Family’ hosted a traditional tea ceremony for the entire Benko clan and a few guests, including Mary and Bob Gates and Penny and Steve Gundry, in Hiroko’s beautiful Japanese-themed garden. “In Japan this ceremony is called Sado or Chado, meaning the way of the tea, conceived by the early tea masters of the 15^th and 16^th centuries,” explained Benko. “Their philosophy of Wabi Sabi signifiedcelebrating beauty in imperfection and simplicity, embracing the cycles of nature.” While preparing to conduct the ceremony, Yuko Kobori shared, “Matcha, the ritual green powdered tea, and the intricate tea ceremony is actually based on everyday life, yet mastering this art requires great cultivation for it represents the quintessence of Japanese aesthetics and culture”.

My knowledge of the ancient rites of Japan is limited to James Clavell’s spectacular novel, Shogun, and the 2025 Emmy winning FX TV series based on his book. Clavell’s 1,200 plus pager focuses on this period in Japanese history as does the 2025 series, although through an Asian lens. The main character ‘Toranaga’ represents an actual historical figure whose name was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first great shogun responsible for unifying Japan after the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. After revisiting the book, the series, and Professor Google, imagine how exciting it was to learn that Kobori Sojitsu, present Grand Tea Master and head of the ‘Tea Family,’ has deep roots spanning the centuries as a direct descendant of Kobori Enshu, Master of Tea to the historical shogun Tokugawa leyasu himself, and the Tokugawa shogunate that dates from 1603 to 1868. 

In the quiet of the garden, Yuko, or Kobori Soushou as she is officially addressed, conducted the tea ceremony in the ancient tradition amid reverent silence and gentle ocean breezes. She is now the Enshu Sado School’s outreach to youth. Yuko is an athlete, and active as a lacrosse player who was selected for the 2011 U22 Japan National Team and the 2013 Japan National Team. This young tea master is attracting attention for her various endeavors blending youthful activities and Japanese cultural traditions worldwide. Among her creations is a sweet green cartoon character emblazoned with an ‘M’ on its vest, for ‘Matcha Monster,’ who delivers the message (and products) as a connoisseur of Japanese culture and centuries old traditions in the youthful conversations of today. Before leaving, Yuko shared her feelings on behalf of her family: “Thank you so much for the wonderful time during the Hawaiian cruise and the tea gathering. Santa Barbara is truly a beautiful town. We felt so happy to be warmly and kindly welcomed by everyone and we hope to host another tea gathering in Santa Barbara someday. It was an honor to meet you.” Quite the contrary, dear Tea Family, the honor was ours!