Masaoki Sen, a Kamikaze Volunteer and Japan Tea Ceremony Grandmaster, Dies

Masaoki Sen, who volunteered to be a kamikaze pilot during World War II but survived the war and became the master of an ancient tea ceremony school and a vocal proponent of peace, died on Thursday in Kyoto, Japan. He was 102.

His death was announced by the Urasenke school, which did not provide a cause.

Mr. Sen was best known for serving as the 15th-generation grand master of the Urasenke, one of the three main schools of Japan’s tea ceremony. After inheriting the role from his father in 1964, he used it as a platform to promote peace, often while speaking of his own experiences during the war.

Traveling the world to engage in a sort of tea-ceremony diplomacy, Mr. Sen used the ancient art, whose roots lie in Zen Buddhism, to call for an end to all wars. He was known for the phrase “peacefulness through a bowl of tea.”

Following Japanese traditions, he went by several names during his lifetime. As grand master of the Urasenke, he was called Soshitsu Sen XV, a title that evoked his school’s lineage back to Rikyu Sen, a philosopher of the tea ceremony who taught it to medieval warlords.

After retiring in 2002, Mr. Sen took the name Genshitsu Sen, a move that allowed his eldest son, Masayuki, to become the next Soshitsu.

In a statement released by the Urasenke, the son said Mr. Sen had weakened physically after injuring his hip in a fall three months ago. When his breathing stopped suddenly, efforts were not made to prolong his life, in accordance with Mr. Sen’s wishes.