{"product_id":"daitokuji-zen-bamboo-chashaku-tea-scoop-wakana-by-hasegawa-kanshu","title":"Daitokuji Zen Bamboo Chashaku Tea Scoop \"Wakana\" by Hasegawa Kanshu","description":"A bamboo tea scoop — chashaku tea utensil bearing the poetic name \"Wakana\" (wakana spring greens) — by Hasegawa Kanshu of Daitokuji Zen temple. This zen priest tea art represents the Japanese tea tools tradition as signed bamboo craft, a seasonal tea utensil for the matcha scoop bamboo practice with tomobako inscribed and bamboo tube.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ Basic Details ]\u003cbr\u003e• Inscriber: Hasegawa Kanshu (長谷川寛州) — Zen priest of Daitokuji, Kyoto\u003cbr\u003e• Carver (shitakezurishi): Tankan (淡完) — stamp on bamboo\u003cbr\u003e• Mei (poetic name): Wakana (若菜) — \"Young Greens\"\u003cbr\u003e• Material: Natural bamboo with middle node (naka-bushi)\u003cbr\u003e• Era: Heisei period\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Kyoto, Japan (Daitokuji temple complex)\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: Tea scoop L approx. 18.8 cm; Bamboo tube L approx. 21.7 cm × Dia approx. 2.7 cm\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Tomobako (共箱) inscribed \"銘 若菜\" signed by Hasegawa Kanshu\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Good — no notable damage or stains\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ Cultural \u0026amp; Artistic Insight ]\u003cbr\u003eThe chashaku is the most personal instrument in the tea ceremony. Unlike a bowl — which may be acquired, inherited, or commissioned — the tea scoop traditionally emerges from the direct involvement of the tea practitioner. When a Zen priest carves or names a chashaku, he transfers something of his practice into the object: a reading of the season, a spiritual observation, a single word that opens into silence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHasegawa Kanshu of Daitokuji has named this scoop \"Wakana\" — young greens. The word carries the freshness of earliest spring, when the first tender shoots push through soil still cold from winter. In the ancient court tradition, young herbs were gathered on the seventh day of the New Year (nanakusa no sekku), a practice connecting human sustenance to the earth's first stirrings. To name a tea scoop \"Wakana\" is to place it at this precise threshold: the moment between dormancy and renewal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bamboo itself carries a warm honey tone with natural grain running its full length. The scoop curves gently at the tip — a form shaped by the hand that will use it, designed to measure exactly the right amount of matcha for a single bowl.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ Deep-Dive Commentary ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e■ Daitokuji and the Tea Ceremony\u003cbr\u003eDaitokuji (大徳寺) in northern Kyoto is one of the most important Rinzai Zen temple complexes in Japan, and its connection to the tea ceremony runs centuries deep. Ikkyū Sōjun (1394–1481) presided there. Murata Jukō, often called the founder of wabi-cha, studied under Ikkyū at Daitokuji. Sen no Rikyū maintained close ties with the temple, and his grave rests within its grounds. This lineage means that a chashaku inscribed by a Daitokuji priest carries the weight of this history — a direct, unbroken thread connecting the modern tea room to its spiritual origins.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e■ The Mei: Naming as Practice\u003cbr\u003eThe poetic name (mei 銘) given to a tea scoop is not mere labeling. It is an act of observation compressed into language. A Zen priest names a chashaku as he might compose a verse — selecting a single word or phrase that captures a moment, a season, an insight. \"Wakana\" evokes not just spring herbs but the entire sensory field of early spring: cold earth warming, pale green pushing through brown, the taste of something new after months of stillness. In the tea gathering, the host reveals the mei to guests during haiken (examination), and in that moment the scoop becomes a vehicle for shared contemplation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e■ Bamboo and Impermanence\u003cbr\u003eBamboo is the chosen material for chashaku precisely because of its modesty and impermanence. Unlike metal or ceramic, bamboo changes — it darkens with age, develops a patina through use, absorbs the essence of tea over years of practice. A well-used bamboo chashaku accumulates a depth of color that no new scoop possesses. This material trajectory mirrors Buddhist teachings on impermanence: the object is not fixed but in continuous, quiet transformation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e■ The Role of the Shitakezurishi\u003cbr\u003eThe stamp of Tankan (淡完) on this scoop identifies the shitakezurishi — the craftsman who performs the preliminary rough-carving of the bamboo before the priest completes the final shaping and naming. This collaborative process reflects the tea ceremony's deeper ethic: the work is never entirely individual. The carver's skill and the priest's intention converge in a single object.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e大徳寺　長谷川寛州作　茶杓　銘「若菜」。下削り師・淡完の印あり。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e茶杓は茶の湯において最も個人的な道具です。禅僧が茶杓に銘を与えるとき、そこには修行の一端が移されます——季節の読み取り、精神的な観察、沈黙の中に開く一語。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e「若菜」とは、早春の最も早い芽吹きを意味します。冬の寒さがまだ残る土から、最初の柔らかな芽が顔を出す瞬間。古くは正月七日の七草の節句に、野に出て若菜を摺む風習がありました。茶杓に「若菜」と銘を付すことは、休眠と再生のまさにその境界にこの道具を置くことです。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e大徳寺は京都北区に位置する臨済宗の大本山で、茶の湯との結びつきは数百年に及びます。一休宗純が住持し、侍び茶の祖・村田珠光が一休に学び、千利休の墓所が境内にあります。大徳寺の禅僧が書付けた茶杓は、この歴史の重みを直接携えています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e竹は茶杓の素材として、その謙虚さと無常性のゆえに選ばれます。金属や陶磁器と異なり、竹は変化します——年月とともに色が深まり、使うほどに茶の精を吸い込み、静かな変容を続けます。下削り師・淡完の印は、職人の技術と禅僧の意図が一本の道具に収斂する協働の証です。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e寸法：茶杓 長さ約18.8cm、筒 長さ約21.7cm × 径約2.7cm\u003cbr\u003e状態：良好。目立つ傷・汚れなし。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ SHIPPING \u0026amp; PACKAGING ]\u003cbr\u003e• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days\u003cbr\u003e• Carrier: Japan Post EMS \/ UPS (with tracking)\u003cbr\u003e• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61619632931186,"sku":"260222_a_2085","price":758.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m79425080632_1.jpg?v=1772008740","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/daitokuji-zen-bamboo-chashaku-tea-scoop-wakana-by-hasegawa-kanshu","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}