Urasenke

Urasenke (裏千家) is one of the main schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with Omotesenke and Mushakōjisenke, it is one of the three lines of the Sen family descending from Sen no Rikyū, which together are known as the san-Senke or the "three Sen houses/families" (三千家). The name "Urasenke", literally meaning "rear Sen house/family", came into existence due to the location of the homestead of this line of the Sen family in relation to what was originally the frontmost house (the omote) of the Sen estate. The other main schools of Japanese tea ceremony, Omotesenke and Mushakōjisenke, also follow this naming convention, with the former meaning "front Sen house/family", and the latter derived from the street name of the family's homestead, Mushakōji.