Chasen No. 110 · Natural Thread, 84 Tines · Usucha

Pale natural bamboo · natural (undyed) thread · around 84 very fine tines · one of a kind

Pale (white) bamboo bound in natural, undyed thread — a softer, all-cream look. The head carries around 84 very fine outer tines, an unusually high count, packed densely enough to raise an exceptionally smooth, close-grained foam on thin matcha (usucha).

Hand-cut from a single piece of bamboo in Takayama, Nara — the district that has made Japan's tea whisks for five centuries. We spent three days there going workshop to workshop; four artisans agreed to sell to us, several met through the town's chasen museum where the makers gather. One of a kind — we have only this piece.

Five years from standing bamboo to the first cut, then split by hand tine by tine with a single blade. Why a Takayama chasen costs what it does →

Care: rest on a whisk holder (kusenaoki), rinse in warm water only, air-dry. Never soak or machine-wash.