Toy box, needle case, box for letters and papers, and a container for sweets… For keeping treasures and carrying favourite items, boxes are familiar tools to bring joy to our daily life. Especially in this time when we need extra care for indoor meetings, we would like to shine a spotlight on Chabako (tea box). Even if you are not familiar with the tea ceremony, Chabako helps you to appreciate the art of tea in daily life through outdoor tea ceremonies called Nodate. It is quite proper if your Chabako contains a set of Natsume (tea caddy), tea bowl, Chashaku (tea scoop) in a Shifuku bag, Chasen whisk in a purpose-made cover, Chakin cloth in a purpose-made cover, and little sweets like Kompeito in a Furidashi case. But in our modern days, there are more people who pack their favourite sweets and tea such as black tea or herbal tea in a basket or tin, and enjoy their own Nodate in a picnic style. You can show off with your friends, or you can enjoy all by yourself. The moment of opening the lid of the box is always exciting.

In their own bamboo forest and workshop in Nagaokakyo City in Kyoto, Takano Chikko Co., Ltd has been creating tea utensils for a very long time. Their work encompasses the entire process from growing and logging the bamboo through to actual production. According to Kimio Sasaki, a wood joiner of Kyoto with over sixty years’ experience, there is a standard for Chabako for tea ceremony. Based on the standard, he is making Chabako depending on the materials. For example, a square box inspired by the Tai-an tea room in which two Tatami mats are fitted in a square shape, and a box with an insert making use of the original holes in the aged material, which can also be used for Chinese tea. The annual Chabako exhibition initiated by Hayato Nishida in the sales and marketing department is always extremely popular. He came up with the idea of this exhibition to pass down the tea ceremony culture that will be cherished in the coming hundred years by adding a new taste to the traditional craftsmanship. In a Chabako carefully hand-made by an experienced artisan, cultured people in contemporary times add their ideal tools. Each box is unique to each time. In the exhibition, we can view the impressive collection of such precious boxes.

Why don’t we start selecting our favourite tools time by time, arranging what we already have, preparing our own Chabako, and introducing Nodate tea ceremony in our daily lives while feeling the scent of plants or winds?

　
　
– photo explanation –

［Ⅰ］親子の茶箱セット Family Chabako set: JPY ¥69,200
［Ⅱ］アバカ茶箱セット Chabako set made from Abacá: JPY ¥108,400
［Ⅲ］待庵古材茶箱セット Chabako set made from aged building materials of Tai-an tea room, designated as national treasure (price not determined)
［Ⅳ］「未来へ繋ぐ茶箱」展2015 “Chabako exhibition: tie to the future” in 2015
［Ⅴ］「CHABAKO」展2016“Chabako exhibition” in 2016