TEA UTENSIL INFO & SOURCES

General Information

  • Diagrams of tea utensils with Japanese names 
    terebess.hu/english/lexikon/teaceremony.html

  • Natsume (棗) — a type of usucha-ki (薄茶器), or tea container for “thin tea” dry powdered matcha. There are several types and sizes. The middle-size chu-natsume is about 6. 8 x 6.8 cm / 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.

  • Chashaku (茶杓) — tea scoop, about 18 cm. / about 7 in. long, usually made of bamboo.

  • Chasen (茶筅) — tea whisk made from a single piece of bamboo, split into delicate tines.

  • Fukusa (帛紗)— an almost square silk purifying cloth roughly 28cm (11in) square, made from a single piece of silk folded in half and sewn together on three sides. A good medium weight for tea lessons is 27-28 grams. Men traditionally use purple fukusa; women use red, orange fukusa.

  • Chakin (茶巾) — white hemp/linen cloth (30 x 15 cm. / 12 x 6 in.), dampened and folded to purify the chawan.

  • Tetsubin (鉄瓶) — cast-iron kettle with a pouring spout, lid, and a handle over the top, used for boiling water to make matcha tea. The capacity is usually from .5 - 1 litres (2 - 4 US cups). They are usually heated on a small brazier called binkake (瓶掛).

Chawan(茶碗)

Tea bowls (茶碗) vary from about 4 - 5 inches in diameter x 3 inches tall, usually with a small foot.

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