Gato Mikio Tea Caddy Karmi Toku
Soji

1. Kidori 木取り

The wood is cut into round slices. Gato Mikio uses only Japanese wood.

2. Ara-biki 荒挽き

A rough shape is cut. The wood is then dried for 50-60 days, reducing its water content by about 12%. This prevents it from deforming after finishing.

3. Naka-ara-biki 中荒挽き

The wood is cut more accurately (3mm larger). It is dried for another 30-60 days in order to reduce the water content again by around 10%.

4. Shiage-biki 仕上げ挽き

Precise, final cutting and decorating of the parts by hand.

5. Kiji-gatame 木地固め

A first coat of varnish is applied, which soaks into the wood and prevents deformation.

6. Fuki Urushi 拭き漆

The final layers of varnish and polish are applied. Depending on the product, this final step is repeated differing numbers of times until the desired thickness and colour of the lacquer is achieved.

Suitable for storing all types of tea, particularly Japanese green teas.

We recommend storing only one type of tea per tea caddy, in order to avoid mixing flavours. The container should also be filled as high as possible in order to limit the amount of oxygen trapped alongside the tea.

Lacquerware should only be cleaned with a soft cloth or sponge and mild detergent. After cleaning, thoroughly dry with a soft cloth and leave to dry naturally. Urushi lacquers prefer a relatively humid environment and may crack if stored in extremely dry conditions, therefore please use and clean lacquerware occasionally so that it can absorb moisture from the air and a damp cleaning cloth.

Used for thousands of years in Japan to coat objects from crockery to furniture and buildings, urushi is the purified sap of the Asian lacquer tree. When dry, the lacquer is both heat and water resistant, providing protection and strength to underlying materials, very often wood, but also bamboo, paper or leather. In Japanese lacquerware itself can be referred to as urushi as well as shikki (lit. “urushi vessel”), and with the development of acrylic resin in the last century, objects coated in synthetic lacquers, such as food-safe polyurethane, are considered urushi/shikki too. Pure urushi is transparent, while the black and red lacquers most associated with urushi are achieved with the addition of mineral pigments. Over this traditional decorative details such as gold maki-e “sprinkled pictures” or raden “shell inlay” can also be applied.

Yamanaka Shikki Urushi

Ishikawa Prefecture, located on the northwestern coast of Japan, is considered the heartland of traditional Japanese arts and crafts and is home to numerous centers of high-quality urushi lacquerware production. In addition to places such as Wajima, the birthplace of Wajima-Nuri lacquer art (輪島塗), and Kanazawa, famous for its maki-e lacquer works (蒔絵) with gold and silver decorations, the village of Yamanaka has a centuries-old history of crafting wooden vessels (kiji 木地) and finishing them with urushi lacquer. The items produced are referred to as Yamanaka shikki (山中漆器) or Yamanaka lacquerware.

The production of Yamanaka shikki dates back to the arrival of a group of woodworkers from Echizen in around 1580 who specialised in the art of hikimono-kiji (挽物木地), i.e. turning wood on a lathe. The goods they produced were sold as omiyage (お土産): souvenirs to onsen tourists. These souvenirs quickly made the area famous for its high-quality lacquerware. From the end of the Edo period (1615-1868), decorative engraved woodturning (kashokubiki 加飾挽き), mastered only in Yamanaka, began to appear. Today, high-quality Yamanaka shikki are popular throughout Japan, and are appreciated as aesthetically pleasing everyday items and fine design objects.