Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A grand master of Ursanke, a Japanese tea ceremony school, Sen Genshitsu died on Thursday. He was 102 years old.
Genshitsu became the grand master in 1964 and received the Japanese Order of Culture in 1997 for his modernization of the traditional tea ceremony.
His philosophy was "peacefulness through a bowl of tea" which he shared as he traveled overseas to promote Japanese culture at universities across the world.
Genshitsu was recruited into the Japanese Navy during World War II to be a kamikaze pilot.
He passed on the title of grandmaster to his son in 2002.
