![]() ![]() In Japan however, Chigusa, like other Chinese storage jars, was endowed with special status, and over the years it became a highly desirable antique. “They took this very seriously.” Ciphers of past owners on the base of the tea-leaf storage jar named Chigusa Courtesy Freer Gallery of Artįrom these extensive records, scholars know how Chigusa originated as one of countless utilitarian ceramics made in southern China during the 13th or 14th century and was shipped to Japan as a container for a commercial product. ![]() “Looking at, appreciating objects’ shape, size and so on was part of the pleasure of tea,” Watsky says. Watsky, professor of Japanese art at Princeton University. These Japanese tea enthusiasts often kept extensive diaries, which recorded detailed descriptions of Chigusa’s physical attributes and accessories, allowing contemporary scholars to see the jar through their eyes, notes Andrew M. The name Chigusa means “abundance of varieties” or “abundance of plants.” Since Chigusa has its own distinctive name, “we can trace its story precisely to the present day,” Cort says. Japanese tea enthusiasts awarded each jar its own name, often tied to poetry or literature, as a sign of respect and reverence. Only a few hundred similar tea storage jars survive and fewer still are accompanied by such a wealth of artifacts and documentation. “This ability to value imperfections in objects made by the human hand is one of the great contributions of Japanese tea culture to the world,” she said. “Tea men looked at Chigusa and found beauty even in its flaws, elevating it from a simple tea jar to how we know it today,” says Louis Allison Cort, curator for ceramics at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. At first glance an ordinary Chinese tea storage jar, over the course of centuries Chigusa has become one of the most revered objects of Japan’s chanoyu, or “art of tea.” Source: Food Safety, Port of Suffolk, Japan News Tea-leaf storage jar named Chigusa with mouth cover and ornamental cords Photo credit: Courtesy Freer Gallery of Art The mouth cover for Chigusa was made by Tsuchida Yuko in 2013 the cords for tying ornamental knots are from the Japanese Meiji era (late 19th–early 20th c.) The next review is Maat which time most of the remaining restrictions are expected to be lifted. Shizuoka, As of April 1 Yamanashi, Niigata and Aomori no longer have to contend with restriction on tea. It is the home to the great port of Yokohama. Items that failed tests faced an additional $185 in fees.įew of the prefectures grow substantial quantities of tea except Shizuoka which accounts for much of the country’s production and processes tea from the nearby prefectures. Costs at the English Port of Suffolk are typical, adding $400 to the price of landing a container. Ten percent of arriving goods were examined. All costs resulting from these checks, including the cost of sampling and analysis and any enforcement measures taken in respect of a failed consignment must be met by the importer, according to the standing committee. The cost of sampling and the lengthy delays required to test foods virtually closed the European market to perishables from half the country.Īll products had to be tested before leaving Japan. Shortly after the March 2011 disaster importers of Japanese tea, fruits and vegetables, meats and some seafood were advised their goods would be quarantined and subject to additional tests for radioactive cesium and iodine. Three additional prefectures, Nagano and two newly added prefectures Akita and Yamagata, face restrictions on mushrooms and a few edible wild plants. ![]() ![]() Restrictions on mushrooms from the four prefectures nearest the breached reactors remain. The decision by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health follows a recommendation to lift emergency restrictions on goods from two prefectures and eased restrictions for seven other prefectures. The European Union has eased stringent tests of Japanese foods including tea after examining 85,000 products harvested in the third growing season following the nuclear accident at Fukushima. What tea professionals need to start the week -Įuropean restrictions on the import of Japanese tea ease April 1… Meet 700-year-old Chigusa … Credit markets are expected to be more active in 2014… Numi Organic Tea secures $4.75 million working capital… Jamba is juiced over Drink Green offerings… Zest high octane tea triples the caffeine of regular black tea… Tea Magazine evolves.Įuropean Restrictions on Japanese Tea Eased ![]()
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