Chashaku 茶杓

A great blog!

This is not written by me, I only translated it into English as it contains excellent, poignant information for the many English speakers enthusiastic about chanoyu.

The blog post comes from one of my favourite blogs: Avant-Garde Cha Kai by Kondo Shintaro.

I can relate to Kondo-san is very much like me in that he works in IT and devotes every second outside work to collaborating with people towards a lively chanoyu community and culture.

Let me collaborate in the knowledge sharing! Orignal blog followed by my English.

茶杓

茶杓は、「抹茶」をすくって茶碗に入れるための道具です。

古くは「鼈甲」でできたものや「金属製」のものありました。
また、「象牙」や「木地」、「塗り」「蒔絵」を施したものもありますが
大半は「竹製」です。

茶杓は、中国から渡来した「薬用の象牙匙（薬匙）」が転用されたものと
考えられています。

【参考文献】点前道具〈下〉扱いと心得 (茶道具百科)／淡交社編集局編

アバ茶流「茶杓」の解釈

簡単に言ってしまうと「抹茶をすくうスプーン」です。笑
茶杓は茶人が自ら作れる数少ない道具です。本来は茶事ごとにもてなす
人（＝亭主）が毎回毎回削っていたそうです。（つまり、使い捨て！？）

先日、ある先生が僕の削った茶杓を見て

「茶杓にはそのときの自分が写る。
　この茶杓は、迷いがありますね。」

確かに。。。笑　自分の心のバロメーターを計る！
そんなつもりで茶杓一本、削ってみませんか？

Chashaku

A 'chashaku' is a tea implement for scooping matcha powdered tea and transferring it into a tea bowl.

In old times chashaku were made from tortoise shells and metal.

Chashaku are also made from ivory, wood, and there are also lacquer chashaku and chashaku with 'makie' pictures made with powdered colours set in place with lacquer. However, the overwhelming majority of chashaku are made from bamboo.

It is believed the origin of chashaku for the tea ceremony are ivory scoops from China used in the preparation and handling of medicine.

Reference for the above: Tea Ceremony Equipage (2nd half): Handling and the Thought Behind Each (Tea Equipage Encyclopedia) Ta

nkosha Publishing Co., Ltd.

Avant-Garde Cha Kai's thoughts on chashaku

To put it very simply, a chashaku is a spoon to scoop matcha (!)

A chashaku is one of the few equipage any teaist can make by themselves. Originally a unique chashaku was made for each tea gathering by the host. So you might say they were making disposable chashaku!

The other day a sensei looked at a chashaku I carved and said:

「茶杓にはそのときの自分が写る。

　この茶杓は、迷いがありますね。」

'A chashku reflects the maker's mind state at the time of crafting.

This chashaku reflects a state of indecision.'

And they were probably right!!! A chashaku is like a barometer of the soul!

For these reasons, why not try crafting a chashaku for yourself?

Back to the SadoSamurai now. Below is a photo of the very first chashaku I made. To the right are my next creations - two pieces of 'susudake' smoke-stained bamboo from the ceiling of an old house in Hiroshima. I brought them back with me from my last trip to Japan. Can't wait to get crafting . . .