Directory: Tenmoku

Tea bowl


Kagami Biraki: Making and Breaking Mochi

Kagami Biraki: Making and Breaking Mochi

Kagami mochi, 鏡餠, mirror mochi, with daidai, 橙, bitter orange, ura-jiro, 裏白, back-white, fern, shi-hō beni, 四方紅, four-directions red-edge paper square, displayed on stand san-bō, 三方,three-directions. The sanbō is made of wood and has eight sides, the gi-tchō, 毬杖, ball-hit,  is made of wood and has eight sides. The number eight in Japanese Kanji is hachi, 八, which is symbolic of Infinity in Space, radiating outward in all directions.  Kō-gō, 香合, incense-gather, called a buri-buri kō-gō, ぶりぶり香合, plump-plump incense-gather. It is made of wood, octagonal in cross-section, tapered at both ends, with a design motif of ‘Taka–sago’, 高砂, High-sand, shō-chiku-bai, 松竹梅, pine-bamboo-prunus, and a married couple, Uba...

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Dragon in Chanoyu Part 2

Dragon in Chanoyu Part 2

Ga-ran-dō, 伽蘭洞, Help-orchid-cave, set with utensils for March, when we have memorials for Sen no Rikyū. Kakemono picturing Rikyū by by Sen-gai Gi-bon, 仙厓義梵, Hermit-precipice Righteous-Sanskrit. . Tsuri-gama, 釣釜, suspend-kettle: the un-ryū gama, 雲龍釜, cloud-dragon kettle, is suspended over the ro from a kusari, 鎖, chain. There is no need of a go-toku, 五徳, five-virtue, trivet, to support the kama. The tsuri-gama is used by Urasenke in March, the third month. The third month is identified with the zodiac sign Tatsu, 辰, Dragon. The utensils pictured with the tsuri-gama are for Rikyū’s memorial Tea observed on March 28.   The Unryū gama features a raised design of a dragon,...

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Chasen

Chasen

Cha-no-yu, 茶の湯, tea-’s-hot water, is made with ma-tcha, 抹茶, powdered-tea, that is blended with hot water using a cha-sen, 茶筅, tea-whisk. There are many different sizes and styles of chasen. The standard chasen is made of a single piece of aged ‘white’ take, 竹, bamboo, with a length of the 3 sun kujira-jaku, 鯨尺, whale-span, 11.5 cm.  Although the diameter of the bamboo varies, the standard Japanese diameter is approximately .7 sun kane-jaku, 曲尺, bend-span, or .55 sun kujira-jaku, 2.4 cm. It is a bit curious that the chasen is made using the kujira-jaku, because bamboo objects are usually measured with the kane-jaku, 曲尺, bend-span. The length...

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