Category: Tea (Chado)

During the month of February, a narrow and deep tea bowl called “tsutsujyawan” is used to prepare thin tea in Chanoyu, the Japanese Way of Tea. The word tsutsu means cylinder, and I was told that the reason for using this type of tea bowl, whose design makes it near-impossible to whisk and create good foam, is to retain the heat of the tea so that guests can enjoy it hot at the coldest time of the year.

Although I’m skeptical how effective the shape is for keeping the tea hot, the tsutsu tea bowl symbolizes “mid-winter,” and also implies that spring is just around the corner. And getting people into the spirit of the season through the use of seasonal utensils is an important aspect in Chanoyu.

Thinking about tsutsujyawan made me a little sad because I realized that I have not been able to practice tea with my teacher for the past two years because of Covid. Another year will pass before I’ll be able to prepare tea in her beautiful Mishima tsutsujyawan, an ash glazed bowl with white slip inlay decorations that comes out of a little paulownia box only once a year.

I’m surprised to catch myself feeling this nostalgia because, when I was growing up, I thought all this seasonal stuff was such a waste of time, especially the Ohinasama dolls decorations that come out of boxes in February to celebrate Girls’ Day on March 3^rd. Families with daughters display dolls depicting a married couple in celebration of the Peach Flower Festival, which is also known as the Doll festival.

My parents originally had a simple Ohinasama comprised of a dressed-up couple already glued in position side by side in a glass case with a fitting box. Then my mother won a spectacular nanadan kazari (seven-tiered Ohinasama) in a giveaway by a radio station in the late 1970s. I still clearly remember the day she won it. We were having breakfast before going to school when the radio host started reading a letter from a mother of three daughters who could not afford a nanadan kazari…, at which point my overjoyed mother screamed, “that’s me!”

A few months later, several large boxes arrived at our house containing the nanadan kazari. The decoration was huge with a total of 15 dolls, equipped with miniature furniture for the bride, and because it took up most of our living room, it was totally incongruous. We were all excited to decorate them for the first few years, then gradually lost interest, except my mother. Her enthusiasm for the hard-won Ohinasama continued and she insisted that we take the whole set to Singapore when my father was transferred there for work several years later.

Nanadan Kazari Ohinasama in Singapore in the 1980s

Year after year, the Ohinasama came out of the boxes in tropical Southeast Asia and went back into the boxes promptly on March 4th. This is due to the superstition that daughters will not be able to get married for a long time if the dolls are left out past March 3^rd. I think I was not alone in questioning if a happy and early marriage should be my primary goal in life, but more than that, I dreaded the task of boxing and unboxing these dolls and wished that they stayed in their boxes forever.

These days the Girls’ Day spirit of the season does not arrive unless I step up to the task of taking out the Ohinasama. My older sister in Japan inherited the nanadan kazari for her daughters, but whether they are out of boxes right now is unknown and I dare not ask.

Amazake, sweet beverage made from rice and malted rice; and sanshokudango, three-colored mochi sweets are some of the foods eaten for Hinamatsuri. I have yet to meet a child who likes amazake.

When I pull out my own little Ohinasama and put it on a shelf, I think back to the time we decorated the nanadan kazari. We could never remember where all the dolls went, and it was fun figuring them out with my sisters. Many friends came over to our apartment to take pictures in front of the dolls because few people had such a display. Over the years, the Ohinasama evolved into a marker of the coming of spring and its subsequent gatherings.

Which brings me back to my Tea teacher’s tsutsujyawan. The winter tea bowl is just one example of many utensils that are taken out and put away throughout the year, just as with my family’s Ohinasama. Like Christmas lights in December, these symbols give support to the traditions that anchor us and provide stability and comfort. I think that perhaps the Way of Tea is also a training in resilience to repeat these traditions. Through the simple act of preparing tea, we are learning to step up and to bring people together. I’m keenly looking forward to resuming the practice with my teacher, which shouldn’t be too far away now. She has been hanging the lights patiently for over 50 years.

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

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)

The Opposite Month: Seeing and Doing Things Differently in Mid-Winter

February 5, 2021Topics Tea (Chado)

According to the Japanese calendar, spring this year started a day early on February 3^rd. You might be baffled to think that spring has arrived during the coldest month of the year, but please just accept it because the Japanese have to do things ahead of time, never after the fact.

The Setsubun -the eve of the first day of spring- chant, “oniwa-soto fukuwa-uchi” written by Japanese calligrapher Kokubun Kayo. On Setsubun, people throw soy beans while chanting these words meaning “out with the ogres; in with good fortune.”

While I should be feeling cheerful and beginning to look for signs of spring in my garden every February, I have been quietly dreading the arrival of this month since I started learning the Way of Tea a number of years ago. Why? Because February is the ‘Opposite Month’. This is the month when guests sit on the left-hand side of the host instead of the standard right in the tearoom.

You might think what is the big deal. Well, it kind of is because everything in the tea preparation has to be done in reverse. Starting from entering the room with the left foot instead of the right, to placing the tea container on the left of the tea bowl that is usually positioned on the right.

There are many differences, but the movement of the feet is especially tricky. So the first day of practice is like being in the Monty Python sketch of the “Ministry of Silly Walks” in a kimono. This can be devastating for beginner students because the muscle memory they have painstakingly acquired over many months gets completely messed up come February.

The opposite position of the tea container and the tea bowl signals that guests are seated on the left hand side of the host.

The inverted tea preparation method was created by the 11^th Grandmaster of Urasenke Tea School, Gengensai (1810-1877), who devised the procedure to be able to use a large sunken hearth called ‘dairo’ in the tearoom. Contrary to what I suspected, this reverse practice was not created to literally keep the tea students on their toes, but to use the large hearth that would keep the tearoom warm for guests during the coldest time of the year.

The first-ever dairo practice I did was all a blur, and come March, I was guaranteed to step into the tearoom with the wrong foot. When I whined about the dire consequences of opposite month to my teacher, I remember her saying something like “it’ll start to make sense after 5 years.” Of course, I thought, everything in tea takes so long.

But surprisingly when the dreaded February came last year, which was much longer than the 5 years that my teacher had mentioned, I had a strange feeling of not struggling as much as years past. After the practice, I thought about what was different because I still made a lot of mistakes. Then I realized that it was maybe because I was able to imagine the guests on my left. For many years, there were no guests in the tearoom in my mind because I could only focus on what I was doing with my body. Movements made more sense when I envisioned what should be done in the sight of guests, and what should be done out of their sight.

Recently, as dairo season approached once more, I pondered how amazing it must have been for the guests to have been invited to the first dairo tea gathering by Gengensai. How surprised they must have been when they got into the tearoom and all the utensils were set in reverse. How thrilled they must have been to see tea preparation from the other side, and to realize it was all devised to keep them warm.

February is also known as umemizuki, which means “plum-viewing month,” and tea gatherings are often hosted for viewing the plum blossoms. This photo of beautiful kobai -red plums- was taken in front of the Mingei Museum in Tokyo.

For the record, I’m a big fan of Gengensai because he was also the first tea master to introduce the ryu-rei style, which allowed myself and Westerners to be served tea comfortably sitting in chairs. It’s a shame that I can never meet him, but how great that I can share his story with you here in America.

My tea teacher has not taught in person or remotely during the pandemic, so for the last few months the elder of my school has been graciously helping me practice at home via Zoom. And this week I’ll be starting my dairo practice. So why don’t you join me for opposite month? It could simply be by folding your clothes in a different way, or setting new rules to your daily walk. You might think it’s a bit childish, but introducing a different set of rules to my ritual and focusing on them have given me a new perspective, and a new way to feel. The effect is very similar to the feeling of being awakened after encountering a beautiful work of art.

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

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)

Every Bowl Like Your First: The First Kettle of 2020 in San Diego

January 12, 2020Topics Tea (Chado)

Happy New Year! Thank you for your support of Entoten in 2019 through visiting my website, offering comments, interacting through the blog and SNS, and purchasing work at my gallery and online shop. I would like to ask for your continued support in 2020, so that I can keep on sharing the work and stories of the people who have dedicated their lives to carry on the tradition of handmade craft for use.

For this first blog post of 2020, I would like to share the story of my first tea demonstration that was mortifying and uplifting at the same time.

Table decoration for the Hatsugama with bamboo, camellia, pine, and nandina berries.

My new year began by taking part in the Hatsugama, which literally means the first kettle, for San Diego Urasenke Tea School’s annual tea event. This year’s preparation for the event was a little more stressful than usual because I was instructed to prepare tea in front of about 120 guests.

I was required to follow the procedure called Misonodana, a way of serving tea using tables and chairs. This style of tea preparation is called ryurei, and was first introduced to the world by Gengensai, the 11^th head of Urasenke for the 1872 International Exposition in Kyoto so that Western visitors could be served tea while comfortably sitting in chairs in a non-traditional Japanese setting.

Misonodana and scooping the hot water with a shaking hishaku

In most matcha preparations, the water is scooped and poured with a bamboo ladle called hishaku, which is one of the most difficult utensils ever invented to master the use in chanoyu. It is very easy to spill, drip, or dribble water while using the hishaku. But when the utensil is used masterfully, it is beautiful to watch and the sound of the water poured from a hishaku is one of the highlights of the tea preparation.

The other issue with the hishaku that I discovered when preparing this year’s tea is that when I’m nervous, it is very difficult to stop it from shaking. The more I tried to stop, the more my hands trembled. It was devastating.

The hishaku, one of the most difficult utensils ever invented to master the use in *chanoyu*

After I finished my demonstration I told my sensei that because I was so nervous, I could not stop the hishaku from shaking and it was very difficult to prepare the tea. Her response was unexpected. She laughed and said, “that’s perfect. That’s the attitude you should always have when you prepare a bowl of tea. Prepare every bowl, like you did today.”

I wanted to prepare tea smoothly and elegantly because, after learning chanoyu for 6 years, I naively believed that I should have been able to carry out the procedure without any problem. But after hearing what sensei said, I realized that my desire missed the point of tea completely. I also felt a little better that I was able to make a good bowl of tea for the guests.

I hope that 2020 will be a year full of eye-opening discoveries like this for you too.

The Unsung Heros of the Tea Room

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”

California Natives: Manzanita “Vandenberg” in a Vase by Bill Geisinger

January 18, 2018Bill Geisinger Research Tea (Chado)

How should I select and arrange flowers in a vessel? For the tea room, Japanese tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) famously said that “the flowers should be arranged as they are in the field”.

As I walked my dog one fall morning last year and saw the misleadingly iconic imported palm trees and eucalyptuses against the blue California sky, I wondered “so what did Californian fields look like before these exotic plants arrived?”

Palm trees are ubiquitous in San Diego, and they seem to be considered representative of California

Looking out to the ocean from Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. Natural reserves provide a glimpse of what indigenous California fields look like. The Southern California coast often starts gray in the morning, as seen in this photo, but then brightens as the sun breaks through for the rest of the day.

On one side of our back garden, I have a long strip of planter area that I had been been watching weeds grow for the last two years. My grand plan after all the necessary repairs were done inside the house, was to plant some beautiful flowers like camellias and peonies that are listed as ‘appropriate’ for the tea room. No I don’t have such a room yet, but it is part of my ambitious 20-year renovation vision that I promise to discuss with my husband who will first read about the plan in this blog.

I began researching camellias and read about the care and attention for the one type that I have always wanted. It is called Camellia Wabisuke and is a small single form camellia that I frequently see in photos of tea room alcoves. My desire for this flower was made stronger because of its perfect name, which includes the word wabi!

Japan’s oldest Wabisuke Camellia in Ryoanji temple Kyoto, conveniently labeled for tourists with a sign.

Then, I looked at a photo that I took of Japan’s oldest Wabisuke plant in Ryoanji from a past trip to Kyoto, and realized that I was crazy. Camellias really belong where there is regular rain and sufficient humidity, which is usually where luscious mosses can grow and cover the ground. When I mentioned this to my tea teacher who has been growing tea flowers in San Diego for the last 50 years, she shook her head and confirmed that “camellias are the most difficult to grow and care for” in Southern California.

Single form white camellia that will be close to impossible to grow in Southern California. White camellias are especially difficult to grow according to my tea teacher.

Feeling defeated before even planting a single flora, I looked through my tea ceremony guide book and re-read the seven rules of Sen no Rikyu, which led me to the opening question of this blog.

After some research, I was surprised to discover that there are thousands of plant species in California, many of which can be found nowhere else. Many also bloom with beautiful and unostentatious flowers. I excitedly thought that I should try turning my back-garden dirt strip into a native flower cutting garden and started to investigate which plants I should grow. This was no easy task because the actual plants are not commonly sold in nearby nurseries.

Finally when I attended a native garden workshop I discovered the Tree of Life nursery in San Juan Capistrano that is owned by Mike Evans. I was inspired when he said that “your garden should provide a sense of place and it should be a place where you want to spend time engaging and enjoy caring for”. Tree of Life specializes in native plants suited for Southern California and each plant is provided with a detailed description for the care that it needs, which is very helpful for a novice gardener like me.

The first native flower I planted was an Island Bush Poppy. This should grow to over 5 feet.

So far, I have planted 8 native grasses and flowers and they all seem to be thriving. One of them is the Manzanita “Vandenberg,” so called because it was discovered on the central coast near Vandenberg Air Force Base. The planting direction that I follow is: “dig a hole twice as big as the container, plant with no fertilizer, no soil amendments, just some mulch and native soil.”

Manzanita Vandenberg with deer grass in Bill Geisinger’s wood-fired vase. Its flowers look like lovely upside down vases when looked at closely, its fruit look like mini apples (manzanita in Spanish).

Today, I cut a stem from the Vandenberg and put it in a vase by Bill Geisinger, which is made from California native clay. I do not know what Master Rikyu would have thought about this arrangement, but it was a moment when I realized that the wisdom he had left behind over 400 years ago continues to be relevant as a guide for figuring out a good perspective, and a way of life. Above all, I am grateful that these plants provide a sense of connection to California, even for a transplant like me.

Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha

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

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

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”.

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.

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.

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.