Matcha Whisk / White Bamboo / 70 prongs

Product Description : Why is it so EXPENSIVE?

Product Story

General Product Information

This Matcha Whisk is made entirely by skillful Japanese craftsmen.
Why don't you experience Japanese culture by making authentic matcha tea with a real Matcha Whisk?
Number of prongs: 70 prongs

・Only 5 whisks can be made in a day!
Although mass production is the norm in recent days, all matcha whisks are made by craftsmen, and they can only make about 5 tea whisks in a day.
The process of making a tea whisk consists of splitting bamboo cut to about 10 cm in length into more than 100 pieces with a special blade, shaving it, and weaving the threads to complete the process.
All of these processes are done by hand and fingers, without the use of machines.

・How to Select a Chasen
In generally, a tea whisk with a small number of prongs is used for dark tea and a tea whisk with a large number of prongs is used for light tea. Therefore, you should choose a Chasen according to the tea you want to make!

 Product History

When did these crafts start to craft?：500 years ago / 1500AD / Muromachi period in Japan

Takayama Chasen is a matcha whisk made in Takayama Town, Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture.
Takayama Chasen was born more than 500 years ago in the Muromachi period (1336-1573) when the younger brother of the lord of Takayama Castle asked his friend Murata Shukoh to make a tea whisk for him. Shuko was a master of renga, waka, and calligraphy, and is said to be the founder of Wabicha (tea ceremony). All the processes are carefully done by hand, and nowadays, the work of making tea whisks is divided between men for the process using blades and women for the other processes.

In the old days, tea whisks were made in the middle of the night!
In the past, the technique of making tea whisks was considered a secret, and only boys were allowed to make tea whisks as the technique was passed down from one generation to the next. In addition, it was made secretly in the middle of the night to prevent the technique from being stolen. This secret technique has been kept strictly until recently, but due to the shortage of labor, the long-kept secret technique is now open to the public.

 

Craftsman Story

Craftsman Profile

Keiichiro Tanimura / Suikaen
After graduating from high school, Keiichiro Tanimura left his hometown to study in the U.S. and worked in a Japanese company. However, with a desire to "contribute to my hometown by taking over the family business that has been passed down from generation to generation," I started my apprenticeship as a tea whisk master under my father, the third generation Suikaen master. 

Craftsman Passion

"One matcha whisk for each family"
In order to make the tea whisk more familiar to people, we have been producing new types of tea whisks such as using colorful threads or adding charms to the whisks, while keeping the traditional manufacturing method, overcoming my father's objection.
We want to make the tea whisk so familiar in daily life that people in Nara always have a tea whisk in their homes. Our goal is to have one in every household!

Your Contribution to Craftsman

Customer Voice

Due to the market structure (link for full articles are attached bottom), craftsman have not known who the customer is and how customer reacts to their work. We made a “Message to Craftsman” box at purchase page. We will deliver all message to every craftsman. Our review will be also shared to craftsman so please leave your comment and evaluation on review section!

Income for Craftsman: Craftsman get only less than 10% of selling price?

As written above, craftsman have not controlled last phase of sales channel that resulting in selling price is set by third-party without craftsman’s recognition. There are some cases that only less than 10% of selling price is given to craftsman. We promise with our customer / craftsman that we offer the fair trade with craftsmen in our contract!

We made an article about above problem and our challenge. Please have a read from below link.
Current state of the Crafts Market / Benefits brought by Suigenkyo

Material & Caution

Materials

Bamboo

Caution

Individual Difference

Each piece is handmade, so there are individual differences even in the same series. We hope that you will understand the change by handmade.

Made to Order

Basically, this product is made to order, so it takes about two months from order to delivery. Please note that there may be unavoidable delays in delivery due to material shortages or delays in the production process.