Chōjū-Jinbutsu-Giga Gaiwan

Sazen Tea Original Product

Handmade and hand-painted porcelain gaiwan from Kawai Masamitsu. The picture on the gaiwan is from the "Chōjū-Giga", the oldest remaining manga. It is painted with deep purple, the color of nobility and virtue in Japan. This color was also associated with gods, the Emperor, and the highest-rank priests.

Chōjū-Giga, formally referred to as Chōjū-Jinbutsu-Giga literally means “Animal-person Caricatures". It is a set of four picture scrolls belonging to the Kōzan-ji temple located deep in the northern Kyoto mountains. It is an Important National Treasure believed to be painted around the 12-13 century.

The scrolls are telling stories in a linear drawing style, which we have to read from right-to-left. This reading direction is traditional in East Asia and is still common in Japan.

The gaiwan borrowed its scenes from the first scroll, which is also considered to be the most famous. This scroll illustrates anthropomorphic animals, rabbits, frogs, and monkeys bathing, playing, wrestling, and preparing for a ceremony. The scene on the lid depicts a frog and a rabbit carrying a “chatsubo”, a tea storage jar. Kyoto has a reputation for having long, scorching, and humid summers, so to preserve the freshness of the tea leaves, tea makers had a tradition to carry and keep the tea jars on the top of Mount Hiei, the iconic mountain of Northern Kyoto, famous of its cool breezes.

The drawing on the body is from a chasing scene, where a monkey is running with a branch stolen from a Buddhist ceremony, while the rabbit is chasing it, holding a long stick with a stunned frog behind, probably knocked over by the thief. The coaster is decorated with silver grass, a popular late-summer-autumn motive.

Place of origin: Shiga Pref., Japan

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☆ HANDMADE PRODUCT - Please note that the item we have in stock might not be the same piece shown in the pictures above. Each piece is unique and slightly different from the others. If you are particular about either the size, the capacity, or the appearance, contact us, and we will share photos or the exact details of our available pieces in stock.

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