Rikyū an haife shi ne a Sakai a cikin lardin Osaka na yanzu. Mahaifinsa mai gidan ajiya ne mai suna Tanaka Yohei (田中与兵衛), wanda daga baya a rayuwa ya kuma yi amfani da sunan iyali Sen, kuma mahaifiyarsa Gesshin Myōchin (月<unk>妙<unk>). Sunansa na yara shi ne Yoshiro.Yayin saurayi, Rikyū ya yi karatun shayi a ƙarƙashin ɗan garin S mai suna Kitamuki Dōchin Dōkai (1504<unk>62), kuma yana da shekaru goma sha tara, ta hanyar gabatarwar Dōchin, ya fara karatun shayi a ƙarƙashin Takeno Jōō, wanda kuma ke da alaƙa da ci gaban kyan gani a cikin bikin shayi. An yi imanin cewa ya sami sunan Buddha Sekiō (易inza) daga firist Ririn Sōtoku Daji (1480-1568) wanda ya yi aure a haikalin Nanji.
Daitoku-ji