Journal
What does Japanese incense smell like? Wood, an...
Japanese incense smells of wood, not perfume. Sandalwood, agarwood, and the five tastes kōdō uses to tell one scent from another.
What does Japanese incense smell like? Wood, an...
Japanese incense smells of wood, not perfume. Sandalwood, agarwood, and the five tastes kōdō uses to tell one scent from another.
Do you need a matcha bowl? What works instead, ...
You do not need a chawan to begin, but you do need a wide, flat bowl. What a matcha bowl is for, what works in its place, and how to...
Do you need a matcha bowl? What works instead, ...
You do not need a chawan to begin, but you do need a wide, flat bowl. What a matcha bowl is for, what works in its place, and how to...
Why is matcha whisked, and why with bamboo?
Matcha does not dissolve, so it has to be whisked. What the whisk is doing in the bowl, and why bamboo does it better than metal or a spoon.
Why is matcha whisked, and why with bamboo?
Matcha does not dissolve, so it has to be whisked. What the whisk is doing in the bowl, and why bamboo does it better than metal or a spoon.
What is a chawan? The Japanese tea bowl, part b...
Chawan means tea bowl, and also rice bowl. What a matcha bowl is made of, the names of its parts from rim to foot, and what makes one right for...
What is a chawan? The Japanese tea bowl, part b...
Chawan means tea bowl, and also rice bowl. What a matcha bowl is made of, the names of its parts from rim to foot, and what makes one right for...
What to wear to a Japanese tea ceremony
You do not need a kimono. What matters is what you take off, what you bring, and whether you can kneel and bow in it. A practitioner's checklist.
What to wear to a Japanese tea ceremony
You do not need a kimono. What matters is what you take off, what you bring, and whether you can kneel and bow in it. A practitioner's checklist.
What does matcha taste like? Grass, seaweed, an...
Good matcha is sweet, savory and green at once. What grassy, seaweed and bitter actually mean in the bowl, and which of them is a warning.
What does matcha taste like? Grass, seaweed, an...
Good matcha is sweet, savory and green at once. What grassy, seaweed and bitter actually mean in the bowl, and which of them is a warning.
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.