A typical lacquerware natsume (a chaki made of wood).

Chaki (茶器) is a term that encompasses all the styles of tea caddy used in Japanese tea ceremony. Chaki are the vessels into which tea is placed before taking it into the tea room, and from which the tea is scooped into the tea bowl in preparation for serving. Chaki are not storage vessels, however; tea is not normally kept inside them. Natsume tea caddy for Japanese Tea Ceremony. ... Natsume tea caddy for Japanese Tea Ceremony. ... A tea caddy is a box, jar, canister or other receptacle for tea. ... A woman wearing a kimono performs a tea ceremony outdoors, while seated in seiza position on tatami. ... Matcha (抹茶 in Japanese), often spelled maccha, is the powdered green tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony. ... The gallery in The Willow Tearooms. ... A 16th century black Raku-style chawan, used for thick tea (Tokyo National Museum) A chawan (茶碗) is a bowl used for preparing and drinking matcha (powdered green tea) in Japanese tea ceremonies. ...

Chaki are traditionally made of wood, bamboo, or ceramic, and are classified both by material and shape, as well as by the type of tea (thin or thick) they are designed to hold. A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Diversity Around 91 genera and 1,000 species Subtribes Arthrostylidiinae Arundinariinae Bambusinae Chusqueinae Guaduinae Melocanninae Nastinae Racemobambodinae Shibataeinae See the full Taxonomy of the Bambuseae. ... Fixed Partial Denture, or Bridge The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word κεραμικος (keramikos, having to do with pottery). The term covers inorganic non-metallic materials whose formation is due to the action of heat. ...

Styles and classification

In general, chaki can be divided into two broad categories: wood and ceramic. Ceramic and porcelain chaki are called cha-ire (茶入, "something into which tea is placed") or koi-chaki ("chaki for thick tea"), while wood and bamboo chaki are known as usu-chaki (薄茶器, "chaki for thin tea") or natsume. A figurine made of porcelain For the indie band Fine China see Fine China. ...

Both cha-ire and natsume are further classified according to country of origin, materials and shape, and in some cases by potter or, in special cases, a name given to the object.

Usu-chaki / natsume

A black lacquered natsume and bamboo tea scoop laid out in preparation for a traditional tea ceremony.

Broadly speaking, an usu-chaki is a wooden vessel with a lid, designed to hold thin tea. Traditionally, usu-chaki are hand-carved from wood or bamboo, which may be lacquered or left untreated. They may also feature designs painted, applied, or carved into the vessel. Today, cheaper, mass-produced plastic usu-chaki are also available. Image File history File links Black_natsume. ... Image File history File links Black_natsume. ... In a general sense, lacquer is a clear or colored coating, that dries by solvent evaporation only and that produces a hard, durable finish that can be polished to a very high gloss, and gives the illusion of depth. ... Plastic covers a range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. ...

The name "natsume" comes from the natsume or jujube fruit, which some usu-chaki are said to resemble. Strictly speaking, the word natsume should only be used to refer to vessels which have the broad, flat top and narrow base that give them this name, but in practice any usu-chaki may be referred to as a natsume. Binomial name Ziziphus zizyphus (L.) H. Karst. ...

Since natsume are used for thin tea, they are the first chaki that a tea student learns to use.

History of natsume

Natsume may have evolved from small flower vases. Their use became popularized in the Edo era, due to the influence of Sen no Rikyu. History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Edo period (江戸時代) is a division of Japanese... Sen no Rikyu (千利休; 1522 - 1591) is considered the most profound influence on the Japanese tea ceremony. ...

Natsume were preceded by other types of wooden tea containers,

Types of natsume

Natsume can be divided into three main types: large (大棗 ō-natsume), medium (chū-natsume) and small (小棗 ko-natsume). There is tremendous variation among the different sizes, however.

A typical natsume is of the medium or large type, and is lacquered in black or red.

Cha-ire

The most important pottery of the Cha-no-yu is first the Cha-ire and then the Cha-wan. It is said that among the military class the most precious possessions were first Tea-caddies, second writings and third swords. For this was the order in which they were presented by the Shogun to one he desired to honour.

-- A.L. Sadler.^[1]

A cha-ire is a ceramic vessel with a small lid, designed to hold thick tea. The lid of a cha-ire is traditionally made from elephant ivory with a gold leafed underside, though today lids are usually created from other materials made to resemble ivory. An elaborately carved ivory decoration Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth, narwhal, etc. ... Gold leaf is a sheet of real, nearly pure gold, worked into extremely thin sheets only a few micrometres thick. ...

History of cha-ire

According to Sadler, cha-ire were originally used in China in the Song period as bottles for oil or medicine, and were imported into Japan for use as tea caddies up to the end of the Ashikaga or start of the Tokugawa era.^[1] The Song Dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝) was a ruling dynasty in China from 960-1279. ... The Ashikaga shogunate (Jp. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Edo period (江戸時代) is a division of Japanese...

Types of cha-ire

Cha-ire can be divided into two broad types: karamono and wamono (sometimes kokuyakimono). Karamono are cha-ire that originated in or are made to resemble those created in China, while wamono are those that originated in Japan. These can be further subdivided by kiln or potter as well as shape.

Karamono

Karamono cha-ire are classified by shape:

• Nasu (茄子): The "eggplant" cha-ire is a medium-sized vessel named for its shape, which resembles that of an aubergine. Other nasu types (whose shapes vary slightly) include the bunrin and the shifukura.
• Katatsuki (肩衝): The "shoulder" cha-ire, the most common type, is a tall, narrow vessel named for its pronounced "shoulders" at the vessel's top. Any tall, narrow cha-ire may be called a katatsuki.
• Marutsubo
• Tai kai (大海): "Big ocean" or "wide mouth" cha-ire have a wide opening and are usually shorter than they are wide. A smaller sub-type of this cha-ire is known as nai kai.
• Tsurukuki
• Shirifukure

Binomial name Solanum esculentum Drege ex Dun. ... [[Image:http://www. ...

Wamono

Wamono cha-ire are classified by the names of potters and kilns:

Provincial ware

• Karatsu
• Satsuma
• Shigaraki
• Takatori
• Omuro
• Tanba
• Bizen

Kilns

• Maemon
• Rikyu
• Genjuro
• Oribe
• Shidoro
• Shimbei
• Tojiro I, II, III, IV

References

1. ^ ^a b Sadler, A.L. Cha-No-Yu: The Japanese Tea Ceremony. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1962, 66.

See also

• List of Japanese tea ceremony utensils

A set of implements for tea ceremony. ...

External links

• Image of an elaborate black lacquer natsume with gold sakura blossom motif
• Image of four carved natsume (Japanese)