Chasen No. 119 · Golden Bamboo, 70 Tines · Both

Warm golden bamboo · black thread · around 70 fine hooked tines · one of a kind

Honey-amber bamboo bound in black thread, drawn into a full, rounded urn of around 70 fine outer tines that arch inward and finish in tight hooks at the tips. The enclosed, egg-shaped head holds the tea against the whisk rather than letting it fly — it builds a dense, fine-bubbled foam quickly on thin matcha (usucha), and has enough body to work a thicker bowl too.

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.