Chaire

In the article about natsume we already mentioned the term chaire in the context of that a black natsume of a smaller size can be used for making koicha, just like a chaire. But what exactly is chaire and how is it different from natsume?

Chaire (茶入) generally would be a small ceramic jar with a lid used to hold powdered matcha tea to make thick tea - koicha. The definition sounds quite alike to natsume, but there are two main differences chaire and natsume have: the material they are made of and the type of tea they hold.

As well as natsume, chaire is a subcategory of chaki (茶器, small vessels for holding powdered tea). It is made out of ceramics, and not wood or bamboo as natsume.

This subcategory of chaki is also defined by that it is used to make thick tea from matcha powder of higher quality - koicha. Chaire has a smaller lid than natsume, which originally was made out of elephant ivory with a gold-leafed underside, but today lids are made out of other materials that just resemble ivory.

Amongst chaire shapes, the most common one is “Katatsuki” - "With Shoulders". There are two other shapes that you would often see - “Daikai”, which means “Big Ocean”, and “Bunrin” - “Apple-shaped”.

There are many other shapes, that are rarely used and usually were developed later. Amongst them are: Tsurutsuki, Yuteki, Marutsubo, Tsurukubi, Hyotan, Mimitsuki, Nasu, Tegame, Shiribari, Naikai, Suiteki, Entsubo and more.

Four of these chaire are special: Suiteki (水滴), Tegame (手瓶), Yuteki (油滴), Tsurutsuki (弦付). First - they are usually sold as a set “Shiteki Chaire” and they share one lid for all of them. Perhaps, even more surprisingly, these four are used for usucha instead of koicha. While there are no strict rules regarding when to use them, you would most commonly see them used when black natsume is used for koicha. Otherwise, you would have two natsume used during tea offering, which you would avoid.

Chaire is considered to be one of the oldest and most important pottery in the Japanese Tea Ceremony with quite an interesting history. Chaire were originally used in China as bottles for oil or medicine by doctors. Tea was considered a medicine, thus it was often stored in the same ceramic containers. Buddhist monks later adopted tea into their practice and the container followed along. When monks travelled to Japan, they brought tea with them. Japanese medicinal containers were different from those from China and thus, these containers were literally called “Cha-Ire” - “Tea-Container”.

Within chaire there can be two types: karamono and wamono, the former originated in China and the latter in Japan. The three most common shapes: bunrin, daikai and katatsuki - are all karamono and come from China.

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Infographic: Vlada Morgun

Text: Vlada Morgun

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