Kyokko Kaida: 巷の茶杓

In the past, I would have been considered an old man.

We do not stop enjoying ourselves because we get old, we get old because we stop enjoying ourselves.

So, let’s all have fun.

In tea ceremony culture, the most cherished utensils—the tea caddy, tea bowl, vase and tea scoop—are given individual names.

However, I have never heard of a spoon being given a name outside Japan.

A single bamboo scoop plays the same role as a conductor’s baton in an orchestra, so please come and listen to a concert at the Ginza Ippodo Gallery.

This old man will lead a tea ceremony on October 7 and October 8 and the tea scoop to be used on those days is named ‘Senko-no-Kaze.’

Kyokko Kaida

'Close Surroundings' Tea Scoops

It would appear we have both grown old without realizing it, but years ago, when we first met, I asked Kyokko what his name meant.

He answered me like a school teacher speaking to a student, saying; ‘The second character, “kō” means “society” or our “close surroundings,” it is where we do lots of different things; where we play, where we study…’

I felt he sounded very adult, as if he belonged to a different world to me.

It is a fact that Mr. Kaida’s mind is filled with numerous compartments containing all the various things he has learned over the years and in one of these is his skill to look at a single strip of bamboo, grasp its various expressions then transform it into a tea scoop, which he then gives an intellectual, yet often amusing, name.

Sometimes the name may have its origins in classical Chinese poetry while other times it may come from Western poetry. Finally, he makes a case for the scoop then employs antique fabrics to create a cover.

Mr. Kaida’s ‘close surroundings’ are both noble and deep—they are the world of the tea ceremony!

Recently, his hair has turned grey, like Morikazu Kumagai’s, and he has become an old man.

This is his first exhibition for a while so I am looking forward to it very much.