Umino Sotai Nanzenji Old-Bamboo Tea Scoop "Fuji no Mine", Named by Abbot Shiozawa Daijo (Bokuun)

A chashaku carved from old bamboo of Nanzenji temple by Kyoto scoop maker Umino Sotai, bearing the poetic name "Fuji no Mine" (Peak of Fuji) written by Shiozawa Daijo (Bokuun), chief abbot of Nanzenji.

Shiozawa Daijo (1919–2008) became chief abbot of Nanzenji, one of the great Rinzai Zen temples of Kyoto, in 1984. Umino Sotai, born in Kyoto in 1947, began studying bamboo work in 1966. A named tea scoop with a mei from a Zen abbot is a classic centerpiece of tea-utensil collections, its name often drawing the theme of a gathering.

Details

• Maker: Umino Sotai (海野宗泰)
• Name (mei): Fuji no Mine 不二の峰, written by Shiozawa Daijo (Bokuun), Nanzenji abbot
• Material: old Nanzenji bamboo (slightly slender)
• Size: standard tea-scoop length; exact measurement not stated by dealer
• Box: wooden box
• Condition: new; color and grain may differ slightly from photos

Watch: how a bamboo tea scoop is carved

A Kyoto bamboo specialist, Miki Chikuzai, shows how a chashaku tea scoop is made. (A general craft video — not this piece or maker.)

Please read before ordering

• One of a kind. We confirm availability with the dealer in Japan within one business day of your order; if it has sold we refund in full immediately.
• Ships from New Jersey in 2–3 weeks. Price includes all import duties. Fully insured, signature required.