Tea Service at the Residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Algeria

This time, I made a first attempt to make extensive use of chabako—portable tea boxes.

This particular tea box was made ten years ago, beginning with the milling of a log, and was eventually finished with maki-e lacquer decoration. Thanks to a wonderful gift I received this summer, I completely renewed the selection of utensils inside.

Since I had the opportunity, I thought it would be interesting to repurpose the pipe of a pipe organ as a chasentō (bamboo whisk container), or to use a Cambodian Buddhist ritual vessel as a kensui (waste-water container). And of course, the tea preparation itself can still be performed in accordance with the Urasenke tradition.

On the evening before leaving Algeria after the tea demonstration and returning to Barcelona, I had dinner with the artist Mr. Kimura in the private quarters of the Ambassador and his wife. His Excellency, who is himself a practitioner of tea, asked to see the chabako, and I had the honor of performing a simplified tea preparation for him.

This became my final temae of the entire stay.

Afterwards, Mr. Kimura looked through the tea bowls and chaire among the works on display, and our conversation continued late into the night.

The photograph was taken early the following morning in the garden of the official residence, showing the chabako.

This remarkable building, now serving as the Residence of the Japanese Ambassador, is a historic structure dating back some 500 years. Its tiles, befitting the residence of a wealthy family of the time, were imported from Delft in the Netherlands.

It was quite simply the perfect setting for a chabako tea gathering.