Kanamori Sowa was born in 1584 at Takayama Castle as the eldest son of Kanamori Katashige, the second lord of Hida Takayama. Originally named Shigechika, he was supposed to succeed the Kanamori family’s third generation. However, on the day of the Winter Campaign of Osaka in 1614, he was disowned by his father. The exact reason is unknown. Disowned, Sowa moved to Kyoto with his mother. Initially, they stayed with tea master Miyabayashi Genzo in Uji. A gate built by Sowa remains on that property, and the tea “Iwai no Shiro” and “Akashi” are said to bear his name. Additionally, it is believed that Sowa created the first tea tree dolls by carving old tea tree stumps during his stay in Uji. In the same year, he became a monk at Daitokuji Temple, receiving the name Sowa from the 150th head priest, Densou Shouin. 
Sowa studied the tea ceremony under Sen no Do’an and was greatly influenced by Furuta Oribe. After moving to Kyoto, his tea style gained trust in the imperial court, forming friendships with individuals like Hōrin Jōshō, Anrakuan Sakuden, Konoe Yoshu, Jiin Hoshinno, and Ichijō Eikan. His tea style, particularly influential in the court, played a significant role in establishing court tea ceremony practices with figures like Jiin Hoshinno, Emperor Gosai, and Yorakuin. Sowa also introduced his preferred tea utensils to various domains, including the Maeda clan of Kaga, and is known for guiding Nonomura Ninsei in pottery. 
Maeda Toshitsune, the third lord of Kaga Domain, sympathized with Sowa's misfortune and tried to employ him with a high stipend, but Sowa declined, instead sending his fifteen-year-old eldest son, Shichinosuke, to serve. This facilitated the spread of Sowa-ryu tea ceremony and Sowa's tea utensils, as well as Ninsei's, in Kaga. For forty years, Sowa-ryu was the dominant tea style in Kaga until the fifth lord, Maeda Tsunanori, invited Senso Soshitsu, the fourth head of Urasenke, leading to the coexistence of Urasenke and Sowa-ryu. 
When Shichinosuke passed away in 1664 at the age of fifty-five, his six-year-old son, Hei’zo Kataichi (the third head), succeeded him. However, Kataichi also died young at twenty-three, and his three-year-old son, Takumi Nobuchika (the fourth head), succeeded. Nobuchika lived until forty-nine, and his son, Tamon Chikachika (the fifth head), lived until sixty-six. Without an heir, Nobuchika adopted Inosuke Seishou (the fourth son of Okumura Chikara) as the sixth head. After Seishou's death at fifty-five, Okumura Chikara's fifth son, Ryonosuke Chinao, became the seventh head but committed suicide in June of 1807, temporarily extinguishing the Kanamori family line. Subsequently, Okumura Chikara temporarily took over Sowa-ryu tea ceremony, and the disciples decided that the headship should be based on merit, not bloodline. Taga Naomasa (Soun) was chosen as the eighth head. Upon inheriting the tradition, he retired to compile secret teachings like "Shigyokusho" and revitalized the school, becoming the school’s restorer. After his death at thirty-eight, his top disciple, Kuri Ayamasa (Mokumoku), became the ninth head, succeeded by his son, Shoshoan Ippon, as the tenth head. 
During the Meiji Restoration, Japanese culture, including tea ceremony, faced hardships. After Ippon’s death, his top disciple, Adachi Hirotomi (Shishoan Soka), who had served under Shingonkyo, became the eleventh head and worked to revive social culture. After Soka’s death, Tatsukawa Soukou (Konomatsuan) moved Soka’s tea room to his residence and became the twelfth head. Tatsumura Soukou (Ginpuan) became the thirteenth head, editing "Chado Sowaryu" and publishing "Shigyokusho" for public distribution. After Soukou’s death, his wife, Tatsumura Souei (Shiinuken), became the fourteenth head, moving to Tokyo and promoting the school’s development, especially in Tokyo. After her death, her son, Tatsumura Soukou, became the fifteenth head, assisted by Tokyo Sowakai president Hori Soutomo (Seian). After Soukou’s death, Soutomo became the sixteenth head in 2002. After Soutomo’s death in November 2002, Masuda Soshoku (Zuieian) became the seventeenth head. In January 2015, Soshoku handed over the position to Udagawa Soukou, the eighteenth head, who continues to the present.

Full list of the headmasters: 
First Generation: Kanamori Sowa (Shigechika) 
- Born: 1584 (Tenshō 12) 
- Died: December 16, 1656 (Meireki 2) at age 73 

Second Generation: Kanamori Shichinosuke (Katauchi Ryoku) - Born: 1610 (Keichō 15) 
- Died: April 3, 1664 (Kanbun 4) at age 55 

Third Generation: Kanamori Heizo (Kataichi) 
- Born: 1659 (Manji 2) 
- Died: June 18, 1681 (Tenwa 1) at age 23 

Fourth Generation: Kanamori Takumi (Nobuchika) - Born: 1679 (Empō 7) 
- Died: June 27, 1727 (Kyōhō 12) at age 49 

Fifth Generation: Kanamori Tamon (Chikachika) - Born: 1702 (Genroku 15) 
- Died: April 11, 1767 (Meiwa 4) at age 66 

Sixth Generation: Kanamori Inosuke (Seishō) 
- Born: 1745 (Enkyō 2) 
- Died: May 1799 (Kansei 11) at age 55 

Seventh Generation: Kanamori Ryonosuke (Chinao) - Born: ? 
- Died: June 1807 (Bunka 4) by suicide at age unknown 

Eighth Generation: Taga Naomasa (Nakahara Soun) - Born: 1792 (Kansei 4) 
- Died: June 2, 1829 (Bunsei 12) at age 38 

Ninth Generation: Kuri Ayamasa (Mokumoku) 
- Born: ? 
- Died: August 1865 (Keiō 1) at age unknown 

Tenth Generation: Kuri Ayamasa (Shoshoan Ippon) - Born: 1820 (Bunsei 3) 
- Died: April 23, 1892 (Meiji 25) at age 73

Eleventh Generation: Adachi Hirotomi (Shishoan Soka, Shiguretei) 
- Born: 1852 (Kaei 5) 
- Died: September 22, 1928 (Shōwa 3) at age 75 

Twelfth Generation: Tatsukawa Soukou (Kōsaku, Konomatsuan) 
- Born: 1879 (Meiji 12) 
- Died: July 15, 1945 (Shōwa 20) at age 67 

Thirteenth Generation: Tatsumura Soukou (Yonekichi, Toyoharu, Ginpuan) - Born: 1898 (Meiji 31) 
- Died: October 18, 1954 (Shōwa 29) at age 57 

Fourteenth Generation: Tatsumura Souei (Shiinuken) 
- Born: 1907 (Meiji 40) 
- Died: August 11, 1963 (Shōwa 38) at age 57 

Fifteenth Generation: Tatsumura Soukou (Yonekichi, Ginpuan) 
- Born: ? 
- Died: ? at age unknown 

Sixteenth Generation: Hori Soutomo (Seian) 
- Born: ? 
- Died: November 2, 2002 (Heisei 14) at age unknown 

Seventeenth Generation: Masuda Soshoku (Zuieian) 
- Born: July 15, 1945 (Shōwa 20) 

Eighteenth Generation: Udagawa Soukou (Kanya, Tōgyokuken, Ichieisō) - Born: December 20, 1974 (Shōwa 49) 

Tea Rooms Favored by Sowa 
Representative tea rooms considered to embody Sowa's style include Gyokuken, Rokusoan, and Yukatei. However, these are all later reconstructions, and there are no definitive records that they were built by Sowa himself. 
The Sowa-ryu transmission document "Shiorishō" mentions that a person named Sōshō, who was secluded at Ryōanji Temple in Yamashiro Province, was called upon by Kanamori Sowa to build a tea room. 

Description from "Shiorishō"
"The construction of the formal four-and-a-half tatami room was supervised by Sōshō. Kanamori Sowa called upon him, arranged materials, and built the structure. After Sowa's death, it was relocated to the residence of Koide Yamato-no-kami and built by Sōshō, and it remains to this day. The master carpenter Okumura Iku was known to have been taught by Sowa and left various instructions. However, it is unclear if there are any modern practitioners familiar with these teachings."

 
Excerpt from "Shōhōzan-shi" 
"In the 'Shōhōzan-shi' by Zen Master Mujaku Dōchū, it is written that a person named Sōshō was summoned by Kanamori Sowa to build a copy of the Ryoan-in study, which was then relocated to Kaga after Sowa's death. This indicates that Sowa had Sōshō build a tea room." 
Although it's unclear if Sowa favored tea rooms in Hida Takayama, records indicate that after moving to Kyoto, Sowa had tea rooms in his residence at Gosho Hachimanchō. Meeting records from Keichō 4 (1599) and Kan'ei 15 (1638) describe a tea room on the second floor with a central pillar and double shelves. Subsequent records in Shōhō 4 (1647) and Shōhō 5 (1648) describe six-tatami and three-tatami tea rooms respectively, suggesting that Sowa had at least three tea rooms in his Kyoto residence. 
The three-tatami room had a roofed garden path, possibly the prototype for the interior garden of Gyokuken. Several surviving diagrams describe tea rooms as being in Sowa's style, including one labeled "Sowa's Favorite Tea Room at Miyabayashi Residence in Uji," depicting a three-tatami room with a central pillar and shelf. 
 

Notable Tea Rooms 
Gyokuken at Daitoku-ji Temple's Shinjū-an 
Gyokuken is a two-tatami tea room with a roofed dirt floor and internal water basin, featuring sliding doors. It is said to be either a tea room Sowa liked or an attachment to a relocated building. 

Rokusoan at Tokyo National Museum 
Originally at Jigan-in in Kōfuku-ji, Nara, this tea room was moved in the Meiji era and then to the Tokyo National Museum after the owner's death. It is a three-tatami room named for its six windows. 

Yukatei at Kinkaku-ji 
Yukatei is known from the Edo period as Sowa's style, featuring a three-tatami room with a hearth and a two-tatami upper section. Though rebuilt after burning down in the Meiji era, it remains a recognized example of Sowa's influence.

Old Ichijō Ekantei Villa in Kamakura 
Built by Ichijō Ekan in Kyoto and later moved to Kamakura, this villa contains a series of rooms, including a long four-tatami room called "Chain Room," speculated to reflect Sowa's taste. 
Considering the relationship between Sowa and the imperial court, it's plausible that tea rooms such as Tōshin-tei at Minase Shrine, favored by Emperor Go-Mizunoo, and tea rooms at Manshu-in, favored by Prince Ryōshō, also reflect Sowa's influence. 

Tea Utensils Favored by Sowa 
Sowa's grandfather, Kanamori Hōin Nagachika, learned tea from Sen no Rikyū and owned famous tea utensils such as the Rikyu Marutsubo. 
Sowa's father, Yoshishige, was praised as a connoisseur during the era of Furuta Oribe. Stories about him include purchasing and refiring a Katatsuki tea caddy in Sakai to great acclaim, identifying a skilled tea master from a tea caddy in Uji, and advising against buying black lacquered tenmoku stands in favor of red lacquer for easier identification of Chinese items. When Yoshishige attended a tea gathering hosted by Tōdō Takatora in Fushimi, he praised the placement and use of a Saeki Katatsuki tea caddy in the alcove. 
These anecdotes highlight Yoshishige's reputation as a connoisseur, which likely influenced Sowa's own discerning eye for tea utensils. According to Yorakuin’s "Kaiki," Sowa once challenged his disciples to design a kettle matching an octagonal lid. While they all chose octagonal designs, Sowa created a round kettle, arguing that overlapping shapes with angles were undesirable. 

Organization 
The Sowaryu Tea Ceremony school, founded by Sowa Kanamori, is dedicated to honoring Kanamori Sowa, his preferred tea rooms, tea utensils, and culture, with the goal of promoting Japanese culture through its dissemination. 
To achieve this purpose, the organization holds tea ceremonies and tea ceremony experiences, operates practice venues, and develops and sells related books and tea utensils. 

Representative: 
⁃ Makio Udagawa 
Advisors: 
⁃ Yasuo Goto 
⁃ Koichi Nezu 
⁃ Soko Yamada
Organizers: 
- Ako Ishii 
- Yukari O’hara 
- Fumihiko Sato 
- Hiroyuki Sekiya 
- Shoji Tanimura 
- Akitsu Noguchi 
- Yuriko Minotani 
- Ayumu Hamasaki 
Chief Administrator: 
- Masaya Koga 
Secretariat Members: 
- Mari Iwadate 
- Fuki Anbai 
- Kana Masaki 
- Kanae Noguchi 
- Yushin Hirama 
- Michinobu Takano 

For Those Interested in Learning Sowaryu 
At Sowaryu, we not only offer a certificate system for tea ceremony procedures but also for tea gatherings and the art of refinement (suki). We hold training sessions for tea procedures (temae), study sessions for tea gatherings, and workshops on tea utensils. Here, both beginners and experienced individuals can observe Sowaryu tea procedure training. (Additionally, study sessions open to the general public can be found here.) You can enjoy tea and sweets while experiencing the usual atmosphere of practice. 
Observation Fee: 1,000 yen 
Attire is casual, and you do not need to bring anything specific. 
You can participate according to the practice schedule. Please refer to the calendar for practice dates.