This wooden nakatsugi (中次 - cylindrical caddy) is made using the traditional kabazaiku (樺細工) technique in which a thin veneer of hand-scraped cherry bark is carefully applied to a wooden core. Instead of the usual polishing, the cherry bark is left in its raw, natural state, a style known as chirashi or shimofuri.

While it is shaped as a tea ceremony utensil for holding matcha, this caddy can also sencha or other loose-leaf teas. 

Nakatsugi (中次) are a type of usuchaki (薄茶器 - thin tea caddies) more commonly known by the most popular style, natsume. The nakatsugi predated the natsume and is believed to have descended directly from yakki (薬器 - medicine vessel), old wooden medicine containers that may have originated in China.

Commonly applied to steel canisters, this fully wooden style is more traditional and more time- and labour-consuming to make, as the interior is also coated with a layer of cherry bark.

Made by Yatsuyanagi in Kakunodate, Akita Prefecture.

Featuring an airtight inner lid, this tea caddy is ideal for keeping roughly 30-50g of matcha fresh.

The Kabazaiku (樺細工, also 桜皮細工) technique of hand-scraping, polishing, and pasting wild cherry bark is unique to Akita Prefecture in northern Japan, where the technique was brought to the town of Kakunodate (角館) in Akita by the Satake family of samurai in the 1700s. 

To clean, wipe with a dry cloth. As the cherry bark is uncoated, it will absorb moisture, which is ideal for tea storage. However, this means that any water that gets on it should be wiped off immediately.

Dimensions:

6.4cm (2.5in) - width
7.3cm (2.9in) - height
30-50g - capacity

Condition: New

This Japanese item ships from the United States.