MORIOKA SHOTEN: THE BOOK OF TEA

MORIOKA SHOTEN: THE BOOK OF TEA May 20–31, 2025 Special Talk & Music Performance: Saturday, May 24 at 2 PM

SEIZAN Gallery is pleased to present MORIOKA SHOTEN: THE BOOK OF TEA, a special two-week pop-up from May 20 to 31, 2025, featuring the internationally celebrated Tokyo bookstore Morioka Shoten. This marks the bookstore’s first-ever appearance in New York. The event will take place in SEIZAN's project room and culminates in a talk by founder Yoshiyuki Morioka, followed by a live clavichord performance by Akira Uchida on Saturday, May 24 at 2 PM. Tea will be served by Ippodo Tea from Kyoto.

Founded in 2015, Morioka Shoten is a one-of-a-kind bookstore that presents just one title per week, accompanied by related artworks, design objects, and cultural programming. With its minimalist concept and deep reverence for the power of books, Morioka Shoten has developed a devoted international following and become a quietly iconic cultural destination in Tokyo.

For this special New York edition, Morioka has selected The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzō (also known as Okakura Tenshin, 1863–1913), a seminal work first published in English in 1906. Blending philosophy, aesthetics, and cultural commentary, the book explores the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) as a lens through which to understand Japanese spirituality, design, and worldview. Over the decades, it has deeply influenced Western artists, writers, and intellectuals—including Georgia O’Keeffe.

Morioka recently traveled to O’Keeffe’s Home and Studio in Abiquiú, New Mexico, where he discovered two copies of The Book of Tea in her personal library, one with handwritten underlines. Photographs taken during his visit, along with a portrait of O’Keeffe by Todd Webb, will be on view alongside a first edition and recent versions of the book.

Join us on Saturday, May 24 for a special program featuring Morioka’s reflections on his research journey and a live clavichord performance by Akira Uchida, described by Morioka as “an urban alternative to the sounds of the tea house.”

Special thanks to The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Todd Webb Archive, and Ippodo Tea.

RSVP for Talk & Live Performance on May 24

Left (O’Keeffe):

Todd Webb

Georgia O’Keeffe Pouring Tea at the Ghost Ranch, 1962

Vintage gelatin silver print

10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.32) Right (book page): Photo by Yoshiyuki Morioka