I came home with happy memories from Czech Republic.  The symposium ran for two weeks and was held at Jurta in Nebocady, Decin, with famous Dresden just across the border.  I met 30 – 40 enthusiastic participants (Czech, German, Polish, Slovakian etc) and started with a Raku demonstration.

For this demo, I prepared a special clay that I found in a small local village that used to be famous for its ceramics.  I showed my traditional method with simple handmade tools that I brought from the UK, and explained the importance that tea masters hold Raku tea bowls with in Japan.  My friend Lukas did a pretty good job of interpreting my English into Czech.  Without his help throughout my visit, I would not have survived a day in the Republic.

(photos by friends at the symposium)

yesterday after work, went to Devis at 10pm with Sheu, Sith n Vinod.

today, woke up at 1pm, went to mv with mommy n daddy. bought new sneakers n stuff. then went out with Shu-Fenn n Alvin. had dinner in Fish & Co (after playing in Toys ‘r’ Us) n then went to Chawan. then to the park to play for a while. then they dropped me at home.

photos!

I am off to Czech Republic for about two weeks.  I have been invited to run a workshop at ‘ Ceramic Summer in Nebocady 2009 ‘.  I have selected a few chawan from my private collection, including four special ones, i.e. Karatsu, Hagi, Bizen and Mino which will travel with me.

I believe tea bowls will be more appreciated with real maccha (powdered green tea which is just whisked).  ‘ A Beautiful Tea bowl in Use ‘.  That’s what I really would like to show to my audience.  

Japanese Embassy in Prague has been very helpful in finding someone who would support my project.
I look forward to meeting East European potters.  I am not sure if I shall have time to write my blog and upload photos while I am there. I should find out soon.

Oh,nothing lovey-dovey going on here. Just PCD’s Jai Ho that I just can’t seem to stop humming to That song is a nice song. I mean,I haven’t watched Slumdog Millionaire yet (How lame can I be? >.<’) Man,I really wanna watch that movie. Abang said he got it already,I mean it’s in his external hard drive but that day he said his friend borrowed it bla³ so I make it a point that I have to watch that movie within this 2 weeks time. Wish me luck!

So today I went out with Elle.She asked me to accompany her to KLCC like last night (she called,btw ) and I was like,”Yeah,I’m free,sure thing babe!” and so there I was at 1300hours or so. We didn’t do much,just a relaxing hangout and there wasn’t any interesting movie to watch.

Before getting there,obviously laa I took the KTM and I was pissed as this super rude guy put on his music player like effing loud until even with my iPod on,I could still hear his stupid player! I can see that the woman in front of me was like,keep looking at him and giving him the face (thank God not the finger-LOL) but I guess he was just a total A-HOLE and acted as if the cabin was his! Sh*thead. I didn’t sit facing him but I was just as pissed as the lady in front of me. The good thing was,he got off at Subang Jaya station. And it was so obvious that the lady in front of me was so relieved that she straight away went to sleep after that Haha I think she wanted to sleep from the start but the rude sh!thead was just in her way LOL AND BTW; this incident wasn’t my first encounter with this type of uncivilised citizen(s) (LOL-so dramatic!)  so I am asking you to please consider others if you are using any public facility as the word itself is PUBLIC so it’s freaking obvious that it is not your granny’s sh!t. Thank you

I am currently enjoying Eminem’s We Made You like hell. HAHA I love this comeback! So I guess I do miss him. LOL This song is the first in my MySpace page playlist. Crazy,I tell you.

Enjoy the video! I really love it! I think it’s super entertaining,and funny,no doubt! Yeah,you go,Em!(LOL,like I know him personally )

Oh and I changed my cellphone ringtone to Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas. Haha I love the part after Fergie says,”Will.I.Am drop the beat now” and the electronica(is it? LOL) rhythm after that.Super cool

I don’t know why,just as I arrived at Mum’s office just now,I was so freaking sleepy. I watched Wall-E on my iPod for a while then I thought,”Damn,I better sleep” and so I slept.And it was a super deep sleep alright? Sh!t. Even Mum realised because she said that my eyes were red. I still don’t get laa how my body works. Anyways,we had dinner at Chawan,Bangsar.

This is the shop. My sister always describes this shop as 'The shop that sells Teh Tarik for 6 bucks' Haha

Actually I felt like eating Nasi Dagang for lunch but then hey ho hell no! Haha. The dish is like so rich,so I figured,later laa,when I’m not THIS FAT.Muahaha.

I seriously have to sleep. I  cannot continue being like this. This is baaaad. Goodnight peeps.

Btw,the time is 0353 now. Deep sh!t.

Take care

♥♥♥

So here they are…my first real unicum, handmade chawans.

I was surfing up and down the web looking at new teaware for decades. Found a nice piece here and there, but mostly they were too expensive. Plus there wasn´t too much good Raku stuff from Japan, i could find. So i put my focus on local german artists, such as Janus Gunder. 

I got to his page by accident, but fell in love with his raku work right away.

Mister Gunder was born in 1963 in Selesia, and is working on his very own art since the early 1980´s. His first studio (JaGuDesign) opened up in 2001. Focussing on works made of  artificial and natural stones. Since 2004 he is also creating brazen scupltures. The same year traditional Japanese Raku Pottery became part of his oeuvre.

After having had a close look on his webpage, and those lovely chawans displayed, i had a very friendly chat with mister Gunder. Showing him the pieces i liked most, a package arrived at my door in basically no time. Thanks for that again!

From this day on the chawans have been good companions, making my teatime a real treat.

Excited?

Here are some pictures of the red chawan, i usually use for senchas.

And here´s the blue one….used for Matcha only!

So that´s a beauty!

Janus Gunder Website

Os bons modos à mesa japonesa foram estabelecidos pelos samurais, por volta do século XVI. O tempo passou, vários costumes ocidentais foram incorporados à cultura, mas algumas coisas não se esquece. Vamos lá:

-a etiqueta à mesa de depende da ocasião (se é formal, não formal, familiar ou profissional) e grau de importância das pessoas envolvidas.

-ITADIKAMASSU / GOCHISOSAMA-DESHITA, as expressões de gratidão: agradecer o que é servido sempre é importante, como no ocidente. Usa-se Itadakimassu ao começar a refeição e Gochisosama-deshita par afinalizar.

-HASHI, os popularmente conhecidos como palitinhos: a ulitização do hashi ajuda o manuseio dos alimentos, que são servidos separadamente e em pequenas porções. Algumas regras devem ser observadas, como:

+A maneira certa de usá-lo é pegando com uma das mãos e alinhando com as duas

+Eles nõa devem ser mantidos na boca após colocar os alimentos

+Não devem ser usados para empurrar objetos sobre a mesa, apontar pessoas ou alguma gravura

+Não devem ser espetados dentro das tigelas de arroz

+Inverter o hashi quando for servir-se de um prato comum é apropriado. Reverte-se o hashi e pega-se o aimento com a outra extremidade

+Não gesticular com o hashi enquanto fala

+Não mergulhar na tigela de arroz

+Não esfregá-los como palitos

+Colocar o hashi na embaalgem após terminar de comer

CHAWAN, tigela individual de arroz: As tigelas japonesas têm tamanho e formato para serem acomodadas nas mãos, assim é importante manter o corpo ereto e levar a tigela até a altura do peito quando se come arroa ou sopa.

+Todo o objeto importane é pego com as duas mãos, colocando na palma da mão esquerda e segurando entre os dedos

+Não colocar o dedo dentro da tigela

GOHAN-MONO, arroz: pode-se levar a tigela para perto da boca, isso depende se o arroz é mais solto ou não.

MISSOSHIRU, sopa: os pratos líquidos são servidos normalmente bem quentes, o que permite fazer algum barulho para tomá-la, porém sem exageros e sem o uso de talheres.

SASHIMI, todo o alimento o mar servido cru:

+Pode ser trazido para perto da boca, decido o molho

+Peixe venenoso deve-se comer sem mexer o prato pois é cortado muito fininho e colocado em pratos com desenhos para aparecer

+Come-se primeiro o peixe mais suave e na seqüência os mais fortes

+A PERGUNTA QUE NÃO QUER CALAR: PODE-SE COMER COM AS MÃOS? Na Era Taishô começou a moda dos ofurôs e os sushis passassaram a ser servidos próximos a esses locais, em pequenos balcões baixos para degustação, em pé. Como era difícil pegar os sushis com hashi nesses balcões baixinhos, as pessoas começaram a pegar com as mãos que estavam limpas por terem acabado de sair do banho. Ou seja, adapando livremente, se estiver com a mãozinha limpa, pode!

WASABI, pasta de raiz forte: colocas-se um pouquinho sobre o peixe ou no pratinho de shoyu

NIGIRIZUSHI, bolinho de arroz recoberto por sahimi: é aceitável pegá-lo com a mão, deve-se colocá-lo inteiro na boca.

OSHIBORI, guardanapo de toalha quente umedecida:deve ser mantido sobre a mesa, não deve ser colocado no pescoço ou sobre o colo.

SAKE, vinho de arroz:

+É servido em tokkuri (garrafa de saquê) e bebido em sakazuli (taça de saquê) quando quente e em massu (caixa quadrada de madeira) quando frio

+Para beber o saquê, não se deve inclinar o corpo e sim levar o saquê até a boca

+Obedece a um cerimonial: a mulher deve segurar com as duas mãos, sempre colocando uma mão abaixo do tchawan (copo) e a outra mão na lateral do utensílio. Os homens utilizam apenas a mão esquerda para pegar o copo

+Um ritual especial: Levante seu copinho para receber a bebida, servida sempre por seu vizinho de mesa, apoiando-o com a mão esquerda e segurando-a com a direita. É imprescindível que você sirva o seu vizinho e não de bom tom servir a si próprio. O copo de saquê deve sempre ficaar cheio até o final da refeição. A tradição manda fazer um brinde, CAMPAI, esvaziando o cpinho num só gole. É sinal de hospitalidade e atenção.

Estas informações são do Guia da Cultura Japonesa, Editora JBC, e a foto é do restaurante Kinoshita – um ótimo lugar pra praticar com toda a elegância.

I was surprised to see the mamak restaurant disappear from that infamous corner opposite Bangsar Village. In its place is this modern looking kopitiam. Hmm.. “modern kopitiam” sounds like an oximoron doesn’t it?That being that, I was tempted to check it out and see if it is worth a visit in the future.

The setting is nice but a wee bit bare. With rustic wood and cement being used all around it isn’t difficult to feel its yearning to appeal to the affluent. I ordered roti bakar, keropok lekor and a round of drinks typical to kopitiams. I’m sorry to say I’m not pleased… the bread was stale and paltry. The keropok lekor was even worse; too much flour so it was almost like eating gummy sweets. Urghh… Fortunately the waitress’ recommendation for ‘not so strong’ kopi was good as the Kopi Muar was full of flavour and smooth. The range of kopi beverages is quite impressive here so you will be spoilt for choice. And the teh tarik is also quite good; not too sweet but still full bodied.

So, not such a great first visit. By the way, the prices here a quite high, even by kopitiam standards. But I guess Bangsar being Bangsar this becomes acceptable. Go figure.

Continuing the previous posting…

5 – Is the interior sloping inwards towards the bottom?

Avoid a chawan whose interior walls meet the bottom at a precise 90-degree angle. You don’t want there to be any corners of the chawan which cannot be reached by the whisk, otherwise the tea will contain undissolved clots of matcha. That’s not much fun for the person drinking it! Even a chawan that shows little evidence of curves on the outside will have an interior that slopes towards the bottom, if it is made with its true function in mind.

The best way to judge a chawan’s appropriateness for matcha preparation, of course, is to whisk some matcha in it. Obviously, you can’t do that when looking online! However, if you’re considering a bowl in person (particularly if it’s western-made), you have a little more leeway.

One member of the Yahoo group wakeiseijaku describes her habit of carrying a whisk (chasen) in her purse – I assume it’s stored inside a whisk case! – and evaluating any candidate bowls by “air-whisking” with it. This is preferable to handing over a wodge of money, getting the bowl home, and discovering that the diameter is just a little too narrow to manipulate the whisk, or the proportions just a little too confined…

Questions 4 and 5 belong to a larger, more general, and arguably vaguer consideration:

6 – Is the chawan well proportioned?

Traditional Japanese potters have settled on a range of chawan shapes for a reason: they work well. A well-shaped chawan is a pleasure to prepare tea in and to drink tea from. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy a bowl of an unusual shape, but you are always safe in selecting one of the traditional styles (e.g. the V-shaped Ido style, which was modelled on the Korean rice bowl of Rikyu’s time).

7 – Is the bowl a reasonable weight?

Bowls in Chadou shouldn’t be too heavy. I can’t even give you an ideal weight here – it’s something you “know” when handling a bowl. So this is a bit of a question mark. In general, Raku ware is lighter in weight than other pottery such as Kyoyaki, Bizen, Shigaraki, Hagi, Mino, and so forth. If the bowl strikes you as leaden when you weigh it in your hand, it’s too heavy.

Having said the above… many if not most of these concerns may not be relevant to you if you are a non-practitioner of tea ceremony.

And having given a sort of chapter-and-verse response, I’d like to add this:

I really feel that one of the best things we can do is to take chances with pottery, and to learn what works (or doesn’t) by working with it. By doing this, you’ll know experientially what to look for and what to avoid. Looked at this way, there are no “mistakes”, just learning opportunities.

If a bowl’s price is not high, and you really love the look of it, why not buy it and see whether it meets your needs? If you find you don’t care for it as a matcha bowl, you can always use it for other purposes (to hold sweets, nuts, etc.) – or simply enjoy displaying it.

Also, I’m a big believer in buying pottery that speaks to your spirit. If a piece strongly appeals to you, and you would feel badly if you let the opportunity pass, I think you should yield to passion and buy it.

In which case I’m saying yes, yes, yes!

References:
Jaanus webpage on chawan, with cross-section of the chawan showing its parts and their Japanese names

Some great reference articles on e-yakimono.net:
A Guide to Styles
Keshiki – Ceramic Landscapes
Clays
Glazes
Techniques
Kodai – What’s the Fuss about the Foot
The Box – Don’t Throw It Away
Caring for Your Pottery
Tips on Displaying Your Pottery
Thoughts of a chawan collector

I was asked to evaluate a chawan (Japanese teabowl for matcha) by a friend on the TeaChat forum recently. In my reply, I explained why I personally would be reluctant to buy it. My friend asked if I would be willing to share my comments with others. I didn’t want to single out a particular potter’s chawan as a “bad example” (plus, I’m hardly infallible in these matters). Instead, I’ve rewritten my comments as this generic checklist, which may be handy for anyone who is thinking about purchasing a chawan.

If there are any senior Chadou practitioners out there who would like to correct or expand on any of these points, I welcome your feedback.

1 – Is the surface of the bowl (especially the interior) smooth or rough?

Most people who want teabowls for matcha – and all practitioners of Japanese tea ceremony (a.k.a. Chadou, the Way of Tea) – should give preference to bowls whose interior surfaces are smooth. Some bowls can be very rough in texture; for example, Shigaraki wares are frequently somewhat pebbly. If there are bumps on the interior, they can cause problems when whisking the matcha – especially if they are convex (“outies”) and not concave (“innies”).

I have a friend who has never used the visually stunning Shigaraki bowl that she purchased for a huge sum; once she got it home, she was chagrined to realize that the gritty texture on the interior would cut a bamboo whisk to shreds. However, if the surface of the chawan you’re considering has pits rather than bumps, and they’re not too deep, it may not be too much of an issue for you.

2 – Is the edge of the bowl smooth?

Similarly, the edge of the bowl should be smooth. In Chadou, a rough or irregular edge be an issue for two reasons.

First, you as host must be able to wipe the edge of the bowl smoothly with the chakin (small linen cloth) as part of the tea ceremony; with a rough edge, this can be next to impossible.

Secondly, you need to present the guest with a comfortable drinking surface, and it’s not generally pleasant to drink from a cup whose rim is jagged or coarse. If the chawan under consideration has any “jags” in the rim, or any other impediments to smoothness (pits, carbuncles, grooves), again I would have questions about that.

Still, if you’re simply making tea for yourself alone, these points may not be that relevant.

3 – Can the foot be gripped easily?

If you are buying a bowl via the Internet, this is something that you will have to judge from the photographs. Any seller of chawan-s who is familiar with Chadou knows that the foot is very important, and will provide at least one good photograph of the foot ring.

Why does this matter? The tea host needs to be able to pour the rinse water out of the bowl one-handedly, by placing the left thumb on the lip and the other fingers within the ring of the foot. A foot that is too shallow, or awkwardly made in some way, is to be avoided because there is a very real danger of dropping the bowl and damaging it.

Even if you are not interested in Chadou, there are two more considerations. Firstly, the foot should be being level and stable (you don’t want the bowl to rock while you’re whisking!). Secondly, the base of the foot should be smooth, since if it is roughened, it may scratch some surfaces on which it is placed such as lacquered shelves or serving trays. (In some cases, fortunately, it is possible to sand the foot, using sandpaper, and make the rough surface smoother.)

There are various types of foot (koudai in Japanese). Some of these can be seen in an article on e-yakimono.net called Kodai – What’s the Fuss about the Foot. There is one type, known as kabuto (helmet), in which the clay at the centre of the bowl’s base comes to a sharp little point. This point is shallower than the foot ring itself; in fact it’s mainly decorative. (I’ll try to post a photo at some point.) However, Sensei – my teacher – does not care for the kabuto style because, she says, tea practitioners with sensitive fingers may find it a little painful to hold (especially when pouring out the rinse water as host).

So… even the “approved” foot styles are not liked by everyone. It helps to see chawan-s in real life, and to hold them, to really understand what to look for!

4 – Are the dimensions of the bowl appropriate?

Chawan dimensions can vary, so the answer to this question is not always obvious. Typical bowls are between 4.5″ and 5″ in diameter at the rim, while the larger bowls (such as those made from raku) can be a little wider still. The height is typically between 3″ and 4″, but does not often go much beyond that. The reasons for these dimensions is so that that the whisk has enough room to “work” inside the bowl without actually splashing about too much.

In Chadou, the only time you get really wide bowls (over 5″) is in the hottest months of summer, when bowls known as natsujawan (summer bowls) or hirajawan (shallow bowls) make an appearance. With these, the idea is to actually allow the tea to cool a little bit, prior to the guest’s drinking it, by offering more surface area. These bowls are not only wide, but considerably more shallow, with a typical height of 2.5″. They are sometimes slightly V-shaped in appearance, too. It can be challenging to whisk matcha effectively in such a shallow bowl.

There are three other types of bowls that you may sometimes see:

• Tsutsu-jawan, or “tube [shaped] teabowl”. This is a narrower, taller chawan that is traditionally used only in the coldest month of winter – which is February by Japanese reckoning.
• The second type is called either ko-jawan (“small teabowl”) or nodate-jawan (“teabowl for outdoors”). This is a smaller bowl that is considered more portable; it may be carried either in a bag with smaller-than-average utensils (including a collapsible teascoop!), or packed away in a special chabako or “tea box”. (I own two nodate-jawan; they are, respectively, 3.75″-4″ in diameter and 2.5″-3″ in height.)
• Tenmoku-jawan (also transliterated as Temmoku). This is a V-shaped bowl with a very tiny foot. In traditional tea ceremony, this type of chawan is reserved for serving to “nobles”, and it requires a special stand called a dai. Unless you are studying Chadou, it’s unlikely that you will ever need one of these.

In the case of both tsutsu-jawan and nodate-jawan, a smaller-than-average tea whisk is required because a full-sized specimen will simply not fit into the chawan. It’s unlikely that you will come across many of these two chawan types, but it is good to recognize them when you do.

So when you are evaluating a teabowl, try to work out whether it is neutrally shaped (= can be used any time of year), it will hold in the heat (wintertime), or it will allow the tea to cool (summertime).

To be continued…

A Nezumi-Shino chawan made by a Japanese potter (and one that fulfils the traditional criteria):