Journal
What is a fukusa? The silk cloth of the tea cer...
The square of silk the host wears at the waist: what it is used for, why the colors differ, and the smaller kobukusa that goes with it.
What is a fukusa? The silk cloth of the tea cer...
The square of silk the host wears at the waist: what it is used for, why the colors differ, and the smaller kobukusa that goes with it.
A Japanese tea ceremony subscription box: what ...
What belongs in a tea ceremony subscription box, and what does not: the season, a whisk you can leave out, and sweets that survive the journey.
A Japanese tea ceremony subscription box: what ...
What belongs in a tea ceremony subscription box, and what does not: the season, a whisk you can leave out, and sweets that survive the journey.
What is a chashaku? The bamboo tea scoop
The slender bamboo scoop that lifts matcha into the bowl: what it does, what it is made of, and why such a plain tool is given a name.
What is a chashaku? The bamboo tea scoop
The slender bamboo scoop that lifts matcha into the bowl: what it does, what it is made of, and why such a plain tool is given a name.
A matcha subscription from Japan: five things t...
Five things to check before subscribing to matcha shipped from Japan to the US: duty, freshness, bowls per tin, what else is in the box, and cancelling.
A matcha subscription from Japan: five things t...
Five things to check before subscribing to matcha shipped from Japan to the US: duty, freshness, bowls per tin, what else is in the box, and cancelling.
What is kaishi? The paper guests carry at a tea...
The small pad of white paper guests carry at a tea gathering, what it is used for, and the wooden pick that goes with it.
What is kaishi? The paper guests carry at a tea...
The small pad of white paper guests carry at a tea gathering, what it is used for, and the wooden pick that goes with it.
Autumn Japanese sweets with matcha: the chestnu...
Autumn is chestnut season, and the sweets served with tea change with it. The two kinds of tea sweet and the chestnut sweets of the season.
Autumn Japanese sweets with matcha: the chestnu...
Autumn is chestnut season, and the sweets served with tea change with it. The two kinds of tea sweet and the chestnut sweets of the season.
Tomari (とまり) is an old word for a mooring — the place a boat ties up for the night. A bowl of tea is meant to be the same: a few minutes to put the day down. You do not need to know the rules to begin.
Who chose this
I choose everything here by hand, in Japan. I practice tea rather than simply selling the tools for it — I am not a tea master and I do not claim to be. I am a practitioner, which mostly means I have ruined enough bad whisks to know what a good one feels like in the first second of holding it.
Nothing is drop-shipped and nothing passes through a third warehouse. I pack each order in Tokyo and post it from Japan, ceramics double-boxed by hand. If something arrives broken, write within 7 days with photographs of the piece and the box, and I send a replacement or a refund; there is nothing to post back unless I ask. Who writes and chooses all this, and the longer version of why this shop exists.