On Saturday, September 26, a day devoted to tea, the body, and sound will take place at Zensei Shinsha in Komae, Tokyo.

The entire grounds and building will become the setting for the event. Environmental sound installations by Chee Shimizu × Goka Sound Laboratory will be placed throughout the rooms and garden, with fragments of sound playing continuously at random. Amid this shifting sonic environment, Chee Shimizu + miku-mari will roam through the grounds with their instruments, performing at various points throughout the day.

In the tatami room of the on-site book café Zazahonhon, Uji Koen—a tea merchant from Yamashiro, Kyoto, founded in 1865—will host a chakabuki session. Chakabuki is a traditional tea-tasting game in which participants sample several teas and try to identify each variety. Uji Koen has developed its own version of the practice, designed to heighten the sensitivity and precision with which we perceive the taste of tea. Within the company, they call it “a gathering for unraveling the expressions of tea.”

In the music room, a three-way conversation will bring together Koichi Kojima, sixth-generation tea master at Uji Koen and founder of the music label Tealightsound; Shinya Noguchi of Seifu Gakusha, who practices and carries forward the tradition of Noguchi Seitai; and Masaaki Hara, a music journalist and producer for the label rings. Tea, the body, and sound—the three will explore realms of experience that precede language.

Later in the day, the music room and Zazahonhon will become two simultaneous listening spaces, with Masaaki Hara and Chee Shimizu each presenting a listening set. At Zazahonhon, sound will be played through a mono speaker embedded in the ceiling, layered over the ongoing installation. Listeners will be free to move around and search for sweet spots where the sounds from the two rooms blend together.

A festival at summer’s end, where perception shifts, slips, and drifts into ambiguity.

Date & Time: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Open 14:00 / Start 15:00
Venue: Zensei Shinsha, Komae, Tokyo
Noguchi Haruchika Memorial Music Room / Zazahonhon
Admission: ¥4,000

Those wishing to participate in the chakabuki tea-tasting session should indicate this when making a reservation. You are also welcome to attend only the installation, talk, and music program.

Featuring: Goka Sound Lab. / Koichi Kojima (Uji Koen) / Chee Shimizu / miku-mari / Shinya Noguchi (Zensei Shinsha) / Masaaki Hara