Looking for places to browse: Tokyo

Travel logs and questions
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Bok
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Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:35 am

Victoria wrote:
Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:02 pm
Bok glad you had a good trip and found a Tetsubin. Would be nice if you shared with members the shops and locations you visited.
Tetsubin was in one of the shops near the cooking ware street in Asakusa. I did not pin any locations or write down directions. But there is plenty to browse. The shop selling Yamada was at one end of that street.

Victoria wrote:
Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:02 pm
Yamada Sou prices vary quite a bit, depending on uniqueness of kyusu and artists pricing on select pots they consider superior. What price range did you see?
around 300$. Seemed to look very similar to the smurf blue ones on AN. One of them was wood fired, which I believe is normally ore expensive no matter what, due to increased time spent. None of the regular red clay versions.
Victoria wrote:
Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:02 pm
Regarding collecting Jozan Yamada I and II, there are many kyusu from these two that are not ‘Chinese’ stylistically. I think the pricing is lower because they are not ‘Living National Treasures’, since the allocation was designated after their time as active craftsmen.
Jozan I is expensive as well, only Jozan II seems to have lucked out... Which I do not mind as the early clay seems to be more interesting in terms of properties, at least hearsay has it that way... maybe I get to confirm it one day.
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pizzapotamus
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Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:26 am

Bok wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:35 am
Victoria wrote:
Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:02 pm
Yamada Sou prices vary quite a bit, depending on uniqueness of kyusu and artists pricing on select pots they consider superior. What price range did you see?
around 300$. Seemed to look very similar to the smurf blue ones on AN. One of them was wood fired, which I believe is normally ore expensive no matter what, due to increased time spent. None of the regular red clay versions.
Slightly confused as rather than being "less than half of what they seem to cost in Western facing shops" that seems to be the same general range? Unless you're not meaning AN and the like but talking about tourist focused physical shops?
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Bok
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Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:53 pm

@pizzapotamus ha it seems I was the one confused! I thought I remembered them being around 600! But that was another one of AN offering... sorry about that. So they are still indeed priced the same!
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Bok
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Fri Mar 01, 2019 6:35 pm

Maybe the admins can edit the incorrect info out, so as to not spread false facts?

Cheers and again apologies...
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Victoria
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Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:03 pm

Does anyone know if tea tasting / sampling is an option at Thes du Japon store in Tokyo?
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pizzapotamus
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Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:05 pm

No personal experience but the 2nd slideshow here https://japaneseteasommelier.wordpress. ... ten-years/ looks like there's some brewing going on :) I suppose the way to know for sure would be to fire an email his way.
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Baisao
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Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:25 am

Victoria wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:03 pm
Does anyone know if tea tasting / sampling is an option at Thes du Japon store in Tokyo?
I don’t know if Thes du Japon has sample tastings but you honestly could not go wrong. @Bok, I have yet to have a tea from them that was less than exceptional. The kama-iri chas, senchas, and gyokuros are every bit as fascinating as higher end Taiwanese teas.

I think you may find the kama-iri chas more interesting than his gyokuros, based upon your preferences for Taiwanese teas. These are Japanese teas made in the Chinese style. His Fuji Kaori kama-iri was a mind opening experience to me since I thought Japanese teas were boring 3 note affairs: umami, something green, and some kind of citrus. This kama-iri was nothing like that: sweet confections and crushed cherry leaf.

His Yabukita cultivar kama-iri is strange in a way that only a true enthusiast would appreciate because it has sucha strong animal presence: smoked peat, salt, musk, and broiled scallops. I like it so much I just ordered more,

Like, I said, I don’t think you could go wrong with any of his teas. And it certainly helps that his descriptions are incredibly accurate. If you like the way something is described, you can guarantee that’s what you’ll get.
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Bok
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Sun Mar 17, 2019 3:06 am

@Baisao sounds intriguing! Will definitely give it a go!
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pizzapotamus
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Fri Mar 22, 2019 3:03 pm

Victoria wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:03 pm
Does anyone know if tea tasting / sampling is an option at Thes du Japon store in Tokyo?
With the new website I see this page about the store and "It is possible to taste our teas" so there we go :)
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