Today, as he does every day, Tango Tanimura is in his workshop, pursuing his quest to produce ever-higher quality chasen. His primary concern is how to create something that is easy to use.įor him, a chasen is a vehicle to make people happy by contributing to a wonderful tea ceremony. When Tango Tanimura works with his bamboo he only has its user in mind. Simply carving and shaping bamboo like a whisk does not really justify calling it a chasen, does it? Most of these whisk makers do not really understand how their whisk is going to be used, nor do they have any means to communicate with users. In today’s interconnected world, is it quite easy to buy cheap, foreign tea whisks. Direct interaction with the actual users of their chasen provides a line of praise and criticism, which in turn serves a basis for improvement and goals to work towards. One house of chasen masters, the Tanimura family has upheld this intricate art for five centuries. “Art” is indeed the right word, because this process of creating balance, for which Tango Tanimura relies solely on the intricate feeling in his fingertips, cannot rightfully be called anything else.Īlthough many chasen masters in Takayama sell to wholesale dealers, the Tanimura family has for generations delivered their products directly to the head families of the various schools of tea ceremony. BAMBOO TEA WHISKS TANGO TANIMURA AND THE HEART OF CHASEN Witness the 500 Year old Secret Art of Tea Whisk Making The Art of Contrast The 500-year-old art of chasen, or tea whisks from Takayama, Nara. Maintaining a meticulous balance between these two elements is the secret to the art that the Tanimura family has honed for more than half a millennium. In order to create flexible tips, the wood needs to be cut very thinly, but the thinner the wood, the less durable it becomes. However, these two elements seem to contradict each other. The Tanimura family is devoted to making sturdy and easy-to-use chasen.Įasy usage is defined by elastic and flexible tips, while sturdiness refers to the whisks’ durability. When Tango Tanimura was announced as the 20th-generation successor to the family line, history weighed heavy on him, but he was buoyed by gratitude to his forebears. The 500-year-old art of chasen, or “tea whisks” from Takayama, Nara.
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