Chasen No. 112 · White Thread, 70 Tines · Usucha

Pale natural bamboo · white thread · fine, curled head · one of a kind

Warm-toned pale (white) bamboo bound in crisp white thread, with a dense head of around 70 fine, inward-curling outer tines. It makes light work of a smooth usucha (thin matcha), the white binding giving it a clean, classic look.

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.