Chasen Cream No. 6 · Golden Bamboo, 54 Tines · Usucha

Warm golden bamboo · black thread · around 54 tines · tall, slender bell · one of a kind

Honey-gold bamboo bound in black thread, its around 54 outer tines drawn into a tall, slender bell rather than a wide dome. The upright form concentrates the whisking action, making it well suited to a narrower bowl and a dense, fine-bubbled usucha (thin matcha).

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.