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Category: Tanimura Tango

Entoten Fundraiser for Mingei International Museum with Limited Edition Tea Whisks by Tanimura Tango

By:
Ai Kanazawa
August 21, 2021Mingei Tea (Chado) Tanimura Tango

Mingei Museum Fundraiser Tea Whisks by Tanimura Tango in our shop ->

Museums play a major role in defining a city, and as I await the reopening of the Mingei International Museum on September 3rd, 2021, I have never been as excited for San Diego as I am now.

The reason for my anticipation is because I dream of San Diego becoming a city where people deeply appreciate the social and spiritual significance of craft, and with the fresh energy of the revitalized Mingei Museum, it will become a destination for people in search of design and craft inspirations. I would also like to believe that it is no coincidence that I live in a city where the only Mingei museum outside of Japan is located.

New entrance to the Mingei International Museum from Alcazar garden, Balboa Park

The Mingei International’s management, headed by director Rob Sidner and aided by architect Jennifer Luce, designed the new museum with an open ground floor. It is intended to become a “living room” for Balboa Park where representative objects from the collection will always be on view, free of charge, for anyone to experience craft from many cultures. The space will also be equipped with a café, bistro, and shop: Becoming a museum that serves as a place for people to gather, eat, and drink or to simply be.

Photo of the ground floor of the Mingei International Museum during construction in June 2021. The Margaret A. Cargill Commons aka “The Commons” will have multiple entrances and will be free for all visitors to the park.
Photo Courtesy of Mingei International Museum

Featuring careful use of materials and excellent craftsmanship within the fabric of its design, the newly renovated museum will be an important addition to our local community and cultural identity. But the cost to pay for this grand transformation has yet to be fully funded, so, as an expression of community support for the museum, I asked 20th generation master tea whisk maker, Tanimura Tango in Nara, Japan, to create limited-edition tea whisks (chasen) in the color scheme of Mingei International Museum to organize a modest fundraiser.

Mingei fundraiser limited edition chasen by Tanimura Tango in Navy and Orange strings.
Mingei fundraiser chasen in navy and orange strings (stripes version)

Tanimura Tango’s tea whisk is one of the articles that the Mingei International Museum added to its collection in 2020. His shin-kazuho chasen was also included in the Mingei time capsule this January, together with select Museum publications and other undisclosed objects to commemorate the occasion. This makes his work the perfect symbol for this fundraiser.

Filling the Mingei International Time capsule, January 27th, 2021.
From left, Library & Archives Manager Kristi Ehrig-Burgess, Director Rob Sidner, Deputy Director Jessica York
Photo courtesy of Mingei International Museum

To me, the tea whisk is an allegory for craft that connects us to people across history -over 500 years- and cultures whose collective labor has given it form. In a world that places so much value on speed and immediacy, it is also a powerful reminder that we should strive to build a culture that does not easily forget.

Please help me raise $1000 to donate to the museum that will include all the proceeds from the sale of these limited-edition tea whisks. The whisks are made of white bamboo in shin-kazuho style, a tried and tested design that is highly durable while creating fine foam on top of your matcha when used. It is the same style that is used by the grandmaster of the largest tea school in Japan.

Lastly, thank you very much for your support for my fundraiser. I hope that this blog post will entice you to include San Diego in the list of places that you will visit in the future.

Mingei International Museum reopens over Labor Day weekend
Free admission, September 3rd – 6th
For more information or to donate directly to the museum, please visit their website

Mingei fundraiser chasen in navy and orange strings (Checkered version)

Entoten Tea Whisk Zoom Webinar with Tanimura Tango: Everything About Bamboo Tea Whisks

By:
Ai Kanazawa
July 20, 2020Events, Workshops and Webinars Tanimura Tango

Entoten will be hosting a fun evening webinar with Tanimura Tango, 20th generation master tea whisk maker based in Nara, Japan.

In this 90 minute webinar that will be conducted in Japanese with English translation, participants will learn about the history of bamboo tea whisks, its material, types, and how they are made. There will be a Q&A session with Tanimura-san after the presentation.

Please register by purchasing a spot online.

A Group of Takayama Chasen is added to the collection of San Diego’s Mingei International Museum

By:
Ai Kanazawa
July 12, 2020Mingei Tea (Chado) Tanimura Tango

Takayama chasen by Tanimura Tango in our shop ->

Entoten is delighted to announce that the Mingei International Museum in San Diego has recently acquired a group of Takayama Chasen (tea whisks) by Tanimura Tango for its collection. This is ground-breaking because the story of the humble bamboo whisk, is hardly ever told in other museums, where much of the focus is given to the tea bowls and other utensils. But without the chasen, there will be no matcha nor other utensils, be it in your home or any school of tea.

A group of Takayama chasen acquired by the Mingei International Museum
The exhibit of tea whisks that includes many from the ancestors of Tanimura Tango at his showroom in Nara
(Photo Courtesy of Tanimura Tango)

The Tanimura family has been making chasen in Takayama, Nara prefecture, for nearly 500 years over 20 generations. During this pandemic, my awe and gratitude for the Tanimura family’s dedication to their craft was renewed because, the adversities that they must have overcome in their history of half a millennium was brought into perspective.

Chasen master Tanimura Tango making a tea whisk
(Photo courtesy of Tanimura Tango)

A chasen is made of a single piece of bamboo, and it is a highly renewable, natural material that is kind to the environment. It is flexible to be able to mix the powdered tea efficiently, but without damaging the bowl. So it is difficult to find a utensil that is as perfect as a chasen.

I hope that this consummate utensil will become a more familiar object to the people here, through the collection of the Mingei International Museum, soon to be reborn in the heart of San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park. The Museum is currently closed to go through a major transformation and will reopen in 2021, continuing to shine a light on Mingei: the art of the people from all eras and cultures of the world since 1974.

The construction of the multi-purpose theater has begun at the Mingei International Museum.
Artist rendering of the new Mingei multipurpose theater space for lectures, concerts, films, dinners, and other events.
(Courtesy of Mingei International Museum, artist rendering by LUCE et studio)

The Unsung Heros of the Tea Room

By:
Ai Kanazawa
April 24, 2018Tea (Chado) Tanimura Tango

Tea Whisks by Tanimura Tango in our shop ->

Tea Whisks by Tanimura Tango <br /> From the top left: Kazuho, Hachijuppondate, Sohenryu, Araho-Sohenryu, Unmondake shin-kazuho, Shin-kochasen <br /> From the bottom left: Soshuryu, Araho-Soshuryu, Shin-Kazuho, Shin-Araho, Tenmoku, Kurotake Shin Kazuho
Tea Whisks by Tanimura Tango
From the top left: Kazuho, Hachijuppondate, Sohenryu, Araho-Sohenryu, Unmondake shin-kazuho, Shin-kochasen
From the bottom left: Soshuryu, Araho-Soshuryu, Shin-Kazuho, Shin-Araho, Tenmoku, Kurotake Shin Kazuho

I took this photo this morning to show some of the different types of tea whisks that we received from Nara’s master tea whisk maker Tanimura Tango today. It is astonishing to see this photo and then to think that the utensil was originally devised 500 years ago, around the time that Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and that it has remained virtually unchanged since.

The Sistine Chapel is visited by over five million people every year, while the chasen is about the only utensil that is not given a name or revered even in the tea room. So I just wanted to say that the chasen are the little known heros of the tea room. These boxes containing the whisks read: “Great Nippon; awarded for excellence; great Yamato country’s Takayama tea whisk maker; Wahokudo Tanimura Tango”

Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha

By:
Ai Kanazawa
August 31, 2017Tea (Chado) Tanimura Tango

Takayama chasen by Tanimura Tango in our shop ->

At Entoten, we carry a wide variety of the highest quality tea whisks made by Tanimura Tango, the master maker from Takayama Nara. His family has been making bamboo tea whisks for the last 500 years. With many different forms and types of tea whisks to choose from, customers have asked me how to go about choosing the right one for them, so here is my guide to choosing the tea whisk that is most ideal for you.

Entoten carries a wide variety of the highest quality tea whisks made by Tanimura Tango.

Foam or No Foam

I think the most popular way to prepare matcha in the U.S. is with lots of foam on top. This is a thin type of matcha called usucha. If you are new to preparing usucha, then the best whisk is either kazuho or 80 hondate chasen. These whisks have approximately 70-80 tines and they are also the most widely available forms of tea whisks on the market. The curled tips of these whisks allow for the tea to be efficiently stirred to create foam.

The 80 hondate tea whisk with curled tips efficiently stirs the tea to create foam
Matcha prepared with fine foam on top

If you are already an experienced tea whisker, then I urge you to try the shin-kazuho tea whisk. This type of whisk has approximately 70 lightly curved tines, and while it requires a little getting used to, it excels at creating very fine foam and less bubbles. The bonus is that the tines do not break as easily because their tips are not curled. This type of whisk in white (hachiku) bamboo is used by the Grand Master of the Urasenke tea school.

Shin-Kazuho tea whisk has gently curved tines

I also want to point out that, contrary to popular belief, creating lots of foam is not the only ‘correct’ way to prepare usucha. While the Urasenke tea school prefers to make its tea with lots of foam, other tea schools and their masters prepare their tea with less foam, like Omotesenke and Mushakouji-senke for example. Soshuryu whisks used by Mushakouji-senke are straight-tined, precisely to create less foam. Personally, I think usucha with less foam allows for the delightful umami and bitterness of tea to be more clearly tasted, and for the flavor to linger longer in your mouth afterwards.

Contrary to popular belief, making lots of foam is not the only “correct” way to make matcha. The Omotesenke and Mushakojisenke tea schools, for example, make tea with just enough foam so that there will be a ‘crescent moon’ of green lake left on the surface.

Thick Tea

A less commonly prepared but delicious version of matcha is thick tea, or koicha, which is made with a lot of powder and little hot water to create the consistency of a gravy sauce. If you regularly prepare thick tea, then rough tined whisks are recommended. These whisks have thicker tines that do not break while you mix the koicha. If you only occasionally make thick tea, kazuho or shin-kazuho tea whisks may also be used for this purpose.

Rough tined Sohenryu whisk on the left in comparison to the Kazuho whisk

Most Important: Choose Freely

The tea whisk is meant to be regularly used and ultimately the tines will break and the handle may crack, at which point it should be replaced. When you are looking for a new whisk, I hope that you try out many kinds of whisks and not restrict yourself to a certain school or form.

Special edition Shin-Kazuho black bamboo tea whisk with pink string. Tea should be fun and whisks should be chosen freely to match your mood and the seasons.

Black bamboo tea whisks, for example, are less commonly known but their dark austere appearance may perfectly match with your tea bowl. Tea whisks tied with different colors may be chosen according to your mood, the seasons, and your own preferences.

Rest assured that every whisk is made with the utmost care by the Tanimura family. You can read more about the process and attention that goes into the making of these tea whisks in my blog post about Tanimura Tango.

Tea Whisks by Tanimura Tango: The Perfect Utensil for Tea Making

By:
Ai Kanazawa
April 29, 2014Tea (Chado) Tanimura Tango

Tea whisks by Tanimura Tango in our store ->

While consumer products today have shelf lives measured in months, perfection came early to the tea whisk. How early? Tanimura Tango, who is the latest descendant of a family that has been making tea whisks or chasen for 20 generations, reckons about five centuries ago. Tanimura-san chuckles and says “we haven’t introduced new products for a very long time, and that is probably a terrible model for companies today”.

Shin-kazuho tea whisk by Tanimura Tango. This type of whisk is used by the grand master of Urasenke tea school.
Shin-kazuho tea whisk by Tanimura Tango. This type of whisk is used by the grand master of Urasenke tea school.

But in place of innovation is a devotion to listening to the specific needs of the user. This is why the Tanimura family makes nearly 100 types and forms of chasen required by different tea schools. “While the chasen was perfected many years ago and the process of making them has remained the same for generations, it is my responsibility to maintain the forms and quality”, Tanimura-san elaborates.

A good chasen is durable and easy to use. “These two elements directly conflict with each other because usability is created by the flexibility of the tines, but if they are too flexible they break easily. Strength and usability have to be balanced carefully and only bamboo can fulfill these requirements within the form,” Tanimura-san explains.

Chasen-Types
There are approximately 100 different types and forms of chasen used by various schools of tea in Japan

The current forms of bamboo chasen were established in the early 1500s around the time when Tanimura-san’s ancestors began making chasen in the hills of Takayama in Nara prefecture. Legend has it that the chasen was originally developed by a prominent poet named Takayama Souzei (-1455), the son of the local ruling family, with advice from his friend and founder of wabi-tea Murata Juko (1423–1502).

At the heart of the perfect chasen is the bamboo that it is made from. The chasen is made using bamboo that is harvested locally in the Kansai area during the winter. Bamboo from colder regions is too hard, while that from warmer regions is too soft. The harvested bamboo is boiled then sun dried for a month and stored to rest and dry for another 2-3 years.

Bamboo-drying
Bamboo is harvested in the winter and sun-dried for a month. Photo courtesy of Tanimura Tango

Different types of bamboo are needed to fulfill the requirements of various tea schools. For example, Urasenke uses white bamboo (hachiku) whereas Omote Senke uses smoked bamboo (susudake) and Mushakouji Senke uses black bamboo (kurotake).

Master chasen maker Tanimura Tango demonstrates how a chasen is made from a single piece of bamboo.
Master chasen maker Tanimura Tango demonstrates how a chasen is made from a single piece of bamboo.

Each chasen is made from a single piece of bamboo that is roughly 4.75” (12cm) long, and split by hand with a small knife. The number of outer tines on a whisk can be up to about 120 and the thickness of the bamboo increases with the number of tines. To make a 70 tined chasen, the bamboo has to be split into 140 pieces to create the inner and outer tines.

inner-outer-tines
The inner and outer tines are split alternately. The inner tines are thinner than the outer tines.

After splitting the bamboo, the top halves of the outer tines are carefully shaved down to give flexibility to the bamboo. This process is called ajikezuri and the process is often said to affect the flavor of tea prepared with that chasen.

Ajikezuri
20th generation tea whisk maker Tanimura Tango demonstrates the Ajikezuri process.

Tanimura-san points out that the most difficult part of the chasen–making process is learning to instinctively adjust the hands while making the whisk. Bamboo come in varying thicknesses and their hardness is also affected by the humidity of the day. He also points out that getting to know the essence of the bamboo is crucial. This is because “bamboo have personalities and the only way to learn is by working with tens of thousands of bamboo to gain the experience.”

Historically, chasen makers owed their livelihoods to the support given by feudal lords and tea schools. The name “Tango” was bestowed on the Tanimura family by the Tokugawa Shogunate as the provider of tea whisks and carried on through successive generations.

chasen-instructions
Chasen diagrams and instructions from various tea schools and masters. Photo courtesy of Tanimura Tango

The Tanimura family continues to directly provide chasen to grand masters of many leading tea schools to this day. “It is a big responsibility and privilege to be able to get my work reviewed directly by the users. Some days they praise me and I get motivated, other days they scold me and I strive to do better. I believe that our history and ability to listen to the voice of the end-user is our biggest asset”, Tanimura-san says.

In the past, the chasen makers worked at night while the rest of the world slept, and the technique was exclusively taught to the eldest son to keep the process secret. Those days are long gone, and nowadays over 70 percent of the chasen sold in Japan are cheaper imports. Tanimura-san though believes that when used, it is easy to recognize the superior quality of Takayama chasen that has been rigorously user tested by the most discerning tea drinkers for centuries.

Tanimura-san creates chasen tied with different color strings. This purple on is appropriate for anyone who likes the color, or to celebrate the blooming of wisteria.
While the forms of chasen are fixed, there are no rules as to the color of the strings tying the tines. Black is the standard color, but any colored ones can be applied for the appropriate occasion. This purple one by Tanimura Tango is ideal for celebrating May and the blooming of wisteria.

While learning the way of tea (chado) allows people to bring beauty into their lives, elaborate formalities are not required for tea to be enjoyed. “As the former grand master of Urasenke once said to me, ‘for tea, some matcha, a tea bowl, and a tea whisk will suffice’. I wish that more people around the world will casually drink tea using the chasen from Takayama. In the five minutes of preparing and drinking tea, one can forget all their worries and problems. It is my dream to be a part of that,” Tanimura-san says.

So have some tea and take a momentary respite from the world. And to make the tea, look no further than the chasen perfected at the hands of Tanimura-san and his predecessors over the ages.

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