connoisseur - lover

Japanese: 数寄者 - すきしゃ

A person of refined taste. In particular, a person who enjoys the tea ceremony as a hobby. Originally meaning "a lover," and referring to an amorous man in the Tales of Ise and other works, the term came to mean someone who enjoys refined tastes in the Middle Ages, and the Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary states that "a person who is devoted to the art of tea ceremony and its training." Since the Meiji period, many prominent people in the financial and political worlds have collected tea ceremony utensils as a hobby, and the term "sukisha" simply refers to them. Modern tea ceremony has developed thanks to many sukisha, including Donno Masuda Takashi, Aoyama Nezu Kaichiro, and Itsuo Kobayashi Ichizo, and their art collections are often preserved in museums such as the Nezu Museum and the Itsuo Museum.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

風流人。とくに茶の湯を趣味とする人。本来は〈好き者（もの）〉の意で，《伊勢物語》などでは好色な男を指すが，中世になって風流を好む人を意味するようになり，《日葡辞書》には〈茶の湯の道とその修業に打ちこんでいる人〉とある。明治時代以後，財界，政界の著名人のなかに茶の湯を趣味とする名物道具の収集家があらわれ，単に数寄者というとき，彼らを指している。鈍翁益田孝をはじめ，青山根津嘉一郎，逸翁小林一三などの多くの数寄者によって近代茶道は発展をみ，またその美術コレクションは根津美術館，逸翁美術館などとして残されている例が多い。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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