Chasen Red No. 11 · Purple Thread, 55 Tines · Both

Reserved — held for exhibition, not currently for sale. Email us and we'll let you know if it's released.

Naturally dark bamboo · purple thread · 55 curved tines · usucha & koicha

Dark, almost black bamboo bound in purple thread — the colour long associated with rank and ceremony in Japan — with the tassel left long at the collar. The binding in Takayama is tied by a separate artisan from the carver, and purple is never an accidental choice. 55 golden-olive tines curve outward into a wide, open head, sturdy enough for a thick koicha yet lively in a thin one. Presented in its red brocade box bearing the Takayama traditional-craft designation.

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.