Rikyū Sen

Rikyū Sen is a popularly known title for a merchant and reputed tea master of the Warring States period. He is considered to have refined the practices of the tea ceremony with his emphasis on Owabi-sabi (simplistic beauty and purity). He served as tea master for both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi.

Rikyū appears in Kessen III as a bonus officer from the Japanese Enjoy Disc or by completing the story once in the PAL version. He does not appear in the North American version of the game.

His Geten no Hana counterpart is known as Yoshirou (与四郎), one of his argued names during his youth.

Role in Games
Geten no Hana has him invited to Azuchi Castle during the end of chapter three. He is summoned to display his talents to Nobunaga and Hotaru. When he is left alone with the maiden, they are attacked by a viper dropped by Rekka. Yoshirou faints due to shock, and the protagonist has to save him to proceed with the story.

Yumeakari has him visit Azuchi Castle after Nobunaga's hawk attack. He is disturbed by the rumors he heard of the runaway hawk and shares his anxieties with Ieyasu. The protagonist must interrupt their conversation to extract information on the bird's whereabouts. If the protagonist chooses the wrong form to approach them, they can see different reactions from Yoshirou and Ieyasu.

Rikyū appears in the Nobunaga's Ambition series as a support character who wonders the lands, performing tea ceremonies. He usually has items or other boosts available for the player to purchase.

Historical Information
Sen no Rikyū was born in the city of Sakai to Tanaka Yohei in 1522. His original name was Tanaka Yoshiro. Born from the merchant class, Rikyū began to show interest in the tea ceremony at a young age and entered into training with fellow townsman Kitamuki Dōchin. Recognizing his ability, Dōchin recommended him to Takeno Jōō at the young age of nineteen. Around this time, Rikyū received the Buddhist name Sōeki to accompany the Sen surname his family had changed to in recent years. His new name came with Zen Buddhist training, which Rikyū would later ally to his tea ceremony practice.

Rikyū's Buddhist training took place near Kyoto, around the time Oda Nobunaga forcefully removed the Ashikaga Shogunate. Taking an interest into the tea ceremony, Rikyū became Nobunaga's man for leading ceremonies around 1574. Rikyū maintained this position until Nobunaga was slain. Following the winds of change, Rikyū took up the position of head tea master with Hashiba Hideyoshi, Nobunaga's successor. By this time, the tea ceremony had become a definitive function of cultural expression that both daimyo and samurai partook in regularly. Such common practice made it very important to Hideyoshi, causing him to rely on and trust Rikyū greatly.

Numbered among the most influential of Hideyoshi's civil retainers, Rikyū moved to Kyoto permanently in 1585, where he opened a school on the art of tea, which was very popular. During another ceremony which included the emperor himself, Rikyū was finally given the name he is most well known by, signifying his importance to the art of tea. Despite such a close relationship, things took a turn for the worse when Hideyoshi ordered Rikyū to commit seppuku.

Keeping to what he knew, Rikyū decided to combine this command with one final tea ceremony. During the ceremony, Rikyū gifted his prized tea ceremony items to the guests save his tea bowl which he symbolically shattered. Rikyū had many students in his time, including Nanbō Sōkei, Sen Shōan, Takayama Ukon, Araki Murashige, Gamō Ujisato, and Hosokawa Tadaoki.