Sen Rikyu and Furuta Oribe's fan marketing that alarmed Hideyoshi and Ieyasu [Marketing lessons learned from history's greats, Part 3]

Kenji Morioka, a small and medium-sized business consultant and author of “Success and failure of Sengoku warlords through SWOT analysis,” explains the strategies of Sengoku warlords and historical greats in this series. Following

Nobu Oda’s long story

and

Eiichi Shibusawa’s edition

, the third installment focuses on Sen no Rikyu, who mastered the tea ceremony, and Ori Furuta, his disciple who served the three great Sengoku heroes and is known as the founder of Oribe ware. We will focus on the two tea masters from the perspective of “fan marketing.”

Anyone who has read or watched the manga and anime version of “Heugemono” will know how Rikyu and Oribe lived during the Sengoku period, how they were guarded by those in power, and how they dispersed. You probably know what happened. Like them, we learn about the merits and demerits of “fan marketing” by comparing them with Kobori Enshu, who managed to survive while pursuing a career as a tea master who was highly valued by those in power. We will also discuss ways to avoid this.

If you are working on fan marketing, SNS marketing, improving LTV, avoiding flame-outs, etc. in corporate marketing, please use this as a reference!

Tea ceremony that had an influence on Sengoku warlords

Do you know about the tea ceremony, which is one of Japan’s traditional cultures?

Tea ceremony is one of the traditional performing arts, which together with flower arrangement and incense, is called the three arts. Sometimes calligraphy is used instead of incense.

In the past, it was often learned to learn etiquette under the name of bridal training, but in modern times I think it is increasingly being learned purely as part of Japan’s traditional performing arts and culture.

As the name suggests, the tea ceremony involves making tea and enjoying its taste, but its primary purpose is to provide hospitality.

The host not only teaches the etiquette of serving tea to the guests, but also works hard to ensure that the guests enjoy the space and atmosphere created by the tea room and tea utensils.

It is also important for the guests to enjoy the space created by the host.

The tea ceremony is an opportunity to deepen spiritual exchange with each other. This has not changed even during the Sengoku period, when it was called cha-no-yu.

In addition, in the space where tea ceremony is served, there is only the host and the guests, and the ideal is for everyone to enjoy a bowl of tea equally, regardless of their social status in the outside world.

As they come into contact with this extraordinary atmosphere, some become admiring of the host who provides them and become disciples. We will form a community centered around the host.

From the Sengoku period to the Edo period, samurai also deepened their relationships with others through tea ceremony, forming communities of tea lovers.

What is fan marketing?

Fan marketing has recently been attracting attention as a new marketing method.

Fan marketing is not a temporary, one-sided sale of your company’s products or services, but rather it is about gaining strong support so that people feel attached to them and purchase them over the medium to long term.

If a company or brand can gain a strong support base, it can be expected to stabilize profits, so many companies are trying to acquire and develop fans.

Simply put, fan marketing is a corporate activity aimed at getting people to become passionate fans of their brands, products, and services.

There are many methods of fan marketing. Typical examples include “fan meetings,” “fan communities,” “online interactions such as SNS,” and “sampling experiences.”

1.Fan meeting

By providing a place for companies and customers to interact, it strengthens the relationship between the two.

Basically, this is done by inviting specific customers. Therefore, invited customers can feel a sense of superiority that they have been invited to a special place.

It is said that by meeting face-to-face, you get to know the company side, the customer side, and share the same space, which increases intimacy even more than before.

2.Fan community

By providing opportunities for fans of a company or brand to interact with each other, it strengthens the bond between fans.

Basically, this is done without much involvement from the company, but by having passionate fans interact with each other, it has the effect of further increasing their sense of belonging. Fostering a sense of competition among fans can also lead to increased profits.

3. Online networking such as SNS

This is a method of interacting with fans and forming a network through a company’s official SNS accounts.

By disseminating information through SNS etc., it is easier to communicate than face-to-face or over the phone, so the importance of its operation is increasing year by year. Forming networks through such interactions is an essential element in increasing a sense of belonging.

4. Sampling experience

We aim to cultivate fans by allowing a limited number of customers to experience our products and services in advance.

It is also used for the purpose of collecting opinions and impressions and increasing awareness through word of mouth.

Through these methods, we will acquire and develop passionate fans.

In many ways, what was done through the tea ceremony that Sen no Rikyu is said to have perfected pioneered these fan marketing methods.

As a result, many feudal lords from the Sengoku period became disciples and disciples of Rikyu’s tea ceremony, and Rikyu came to have great influence within the Toyotomi government.

Rikyu’s disciples, such as Oribe Furuta, who inherited this method, also became influential.

What is branding? Introducing the meaning, difference from marketing, success stories and effects

Sen no Rikyu’s achievements from merchant to tea master

Rikyu is said to have been born in Sakai, an autonomous city in what is now Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, to merchant Tanaka Yohei.

It is said that when he was young, he learned tea ceremony from Dochin Kitamuki, a doctor from Sakai, and later studied under Joo Takeno, a wealthy merchant and famous tea master. Recently, there is also a theory that he learned it from Genya Tsuji rather than Joo.

Around 1544, he started holding tea parties at a young age. In addition, when he became connected with the Miyoshi family, which had become influential in Sakai, he began to build up his status and wealth as a purveyor of merchants.

When Oda Nobunaga rose to power and took control of Sakai, he served as a tea master along with Imai Munehisa and Tsuda Munenori.

In this way, Rikyu seems to have deepened his ties with the powerful people of the time, and also became involved in the management of the town as a member of the Sakai congregation.

As a merchant, he seems to have played a role behind the scenes in supporting Nobunaga’s plan to unify the country, such as procuring weapons such as guns. However, around this time, Munehisa Imai was given more important authority by Nobunaga, and was appointed as the magistrate to govern the area around Sakai.

After the Honnoji Incident, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who assumed power in place of Nobunaga, began to place Rikyu in important positions.

He was also given the position of head of the tea ceremony, and was respected by the generals under the Toyotomi government.

When Otomo Sorin asked Hideyoshi for support, Toyotomi Hidenaga advised him, “You should talk to me about public matters, and Rikyu about secret matters.” He had such a strong voice within the Toyotomi government. It will look like this.

However, Rikyu is suddenly ordered to commit seppuku by Hideyoshi. There are various theories as to why this is the case, and nothing is clear yet.

However, the number of fans that Rikyu had gained through tea ceremony was becoming too large to be overlooked, and this is said to be the cause.

Sen no Rikyu fan community warned by Hideyoshi

During the Sengoku period, tea ceremony was loved by court nobles and townspeople as an advanced culture, and was also accepted as a hobby by the rough-and-tumble military commanders of the Sengoku period.

Nobunaga had a great influence on Nobunaga, who rewarded him with the right to hold tea parties and famous tea utensils, and there is an anecdote that his vassal Kazumasu Takigawa wanted tea utensils more than Ueno Ikkoku as a reward for conquering Takeda.

Many people were fascinated by the wabicha that Rikyu perfected, and military commanders with excellent literary and military skills, such as Ujisato Gamo, Tadaoki Hosokawa, and Ukon Takayama, studied under Rikyu and were so enamored with it that they were later called Rikyu’s Seven Tetsu. This includes Oribe Furuta, who would inherit Rikyu’s will.

The host’s hospitality in the tea room, a special space that excludes status and hierarchy, was like a “fan meeting” to which we had been specially invited, and I think it increased our intimacy.

It is also similar to a “fan community” in that disciples hold tea parties to improve their knowledge and skills, provide a place to exchange information, and strengthen their relationships with each other. In fact, Ujisato Gamo was baptized as a Christian at the recommendation of Ukon Takayama.

Although it was a time when online communication such as SNS was not possible, Rikyu frequently exchanged letters with Ujisato Gamo, Oribe Furuta, and others to report on their current status.

Rikyu held “sampling experiences” by showing off tea utensils and utensils that he had appraised and evaluated at tea parties, and he also made profits from the sale and purchase.

Through these activities, he cultivated a loyal following of Rikyu Shichitetsu.

I believe that Hideyoshi and his aides were wary of this situation and aimed to reduce Rikyu’s influence, which ultimately led to him committing seppuku.

The person who continues to develop and inherit this tea ceremony is Furuta Oribe, a disciple.

Furuta Oribe’s achievements from samurai to tea master

Furuta Oribe, one of Rikyu’s Seven Philosophers, was given the name Shigezen, but is better known by his common name, Oribe.

He is also famous as the main character of Yoshihiro Yamada’s popular manga “Heugemono” set in the Sengoku period.

Oribe was originally a member of the samurai class who was a native of Mino Province, which is now Gifu Prefecture, and he became a vassal of Nobunaga and participated in the Kyoto plan.

After that, he continued to play an active role as a military commander, participating in the invasion of China and the conquest of Koshu.

After the Honnoji Incident, he fought on Hideyoshi’s side and participated in major battles such as the Battle of Shizugatake, the Battle of Komaki-Nagakute, and the Shikoku Conquest.

However, he became a daimyo with 10,000 koku of koku after he served in the Eastern Army at the Battle of Sekigahara, and it seems that his reputation as a samurai was not as high as his reputation as a tea master.

As a tea master, Oribe is said to have studied under Rikyu around 1582.

After Rikyu’s death, he incorporated his own ideas based on Rikyu’s wabicha and created the current form of tea ceremony, which became widely recognized.

He served as an instructor for the second shogun, Hidetada Tokugawa, instructing him on tea ceremony. It came to be said to be the origin of the Ryuei tea ceremony, which was practiced under the Shogun family throughout the Edo period.

However, during the Summer Campaign in Osaka in 1615, Oribe and his son were ordered to commit seppuku because they were suspected of collusion with the Toyotomi side, resulting in the end of the imperial family.

It is said that the shogunate was wary of Oribe’s influence over daimyo, court nobles, and cultural figures across the country, regardless of whether they were Fudai or Tozama.

Furuta Oribe’s network was warned by Ieyasu

Oribe likes to incorporate tea utensils and utensils that have movement, which is different from Rikyu’s tranquility, creating his own Oribe style.

After Rikyu’s death, it became Hideyoshi’s premier tea hall, and it is said that all the feudal lords came to learn tea ceremony from Oribe.

Oribe also puts effort into creating tea utensils and utensils, and instead of using Rikyu’s logical designs, he creates items with innovative and unusual colors and shapes, which he sells within the community as Oribe ware.

It is said that the tea utensils that were well received here were also sold commercially. Similar to the modern sampling experience.

In addition to Date Masamune, Satake Yoshinobu, Asano Yukinaga, Kato Yoshiaki, and Mori Hidemoto, he also studied with important positions in the shogunate such as Tokugawa Fudai feudal lords Okubo Tadayuki, Honda Masanobu, Doi Toshikatsu, and Sakakibara Yasukatsu. It seems so.

Kobori Enshu, Kanamori Kashige, and Ueda Soko, who are known as his top disciples, greatly contributed to the subsequent development of tea ceremony.

On the other hand, he had close relationships not only with the samurai, but also with the Konoe family and the Honganji family, which were court nobles. I am deepening my relationships with these disciples by exchanging handwritten letters.

Then, as the Edo shogunate came to hold important roles as tea ceremony instructors, large domains such as the Kaga, Owari, Choshu, Sendai, and Kumamoto domains began to use Oribe’s tea method.

With the backing of the Shogunate, Oribe’s network expanded nationwide and penetrated deeply.

However, from the perspective of the shogunate, which was concerned about controlling the Toyotomi family and the imperial court, this network was something to be wary of. After the Toyotomi family was destroyed in the Osaka Campaign, Kyoto Shoshidai, Katsushige Itakura, was accused of trespassing.

Oribe, like Rikyu, commits seppuku without making any excuses. It is said that this was aimed at eliminating Oribe’s influence.

Points to note regarding tea ceremony and fan marketing

Both Rikyu and Oribe lost their lives because the political power they gained through tea ceremony was seen as dangerous by those in power.

Following in the footsteps of these two, Kobori Enshu became the tea ceremony instructor for the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu.

He became familiar with tea ceremony with his father Masatsugu, who was a chief retainer of Toyotomi Hidenaga, and began to formally learn from Oribe.

As Enshu witnessed the final moments of Rikyu and Oribe, he placed importance on his relationship with the shogunate and avoided interaction with court nobles as much as possible.

It seems that he was wary of the political aspect of tea ceremony, which had a strong following, and was careful not to arouse suspicion. Thanks to this, he was entrusted with important roles within the shogunate, such as Fushimi Magistrate.

Like his masters, Enshu discovers new tea utensils to replace tea utensils that are difficult to obtain, and produces them by branding them and naming them. It becomes what is called a Chuko specialty.

However, although Enshu was cautious in his activities, in his later years he was accused of embezzlement of public funds. However, thanks to the Fudai feudal lords whom he befriended through the tea ceremony, he was able to escape this crime.

Modern fan marketing also aims to connect closely with customers. On the other hand, depending on how you interact with them and the content of your information, there is a risk that you may end up in flames.

A single incident can seriously damage the image of a product or brand that has been cultivated over many years.

In particular, you need to be very careful when speaking in closed spaces such as fan meetings or online networks such as SNS, as there is a risk of leakage.

Also, closed communities are always something to be wary of.

It seems that Rikyu and Oribe were too focused on pursuing their own tea ceremony, and did not pay enough attention to their powerful supporters Hideyoshi and Ieyasu.

Enshu continued to be careful not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings about his actions, which may have made a big difference in the end.

From the example of tea ceremony in the Sengoku period, there is no doubt that fan marketing is a powerful measure that makes those in power wary.

I think it is the best marketing method of all times, as long as you pay enough attention and consideration to how you use it.