Artisans｜職人
Hands, heritage, and quiet craft.
At Chafinity, tea is never held alone.
It is held by the hands that grow the leaf, shape the vessel, carve the whisk, prepare the sweet, and preserve the tools of ritual.
Our artisan relationships are chosen with the same care as our teas — not for mass production, but for integrity, beauty, function, and lineage. Each piece we share carries a story of patience, material, and human touch.
Kubo Komakichi｜久保駒吉
Ikoma City, Nara, Japan
Chasen + Chashaku Artisan
In the Takayama district of Ikoma City, Nara, bamboo whisks have been shaped by hand for more than 500 years. This region is known as one of Japan’s most important centers for chasen making, with Takayama chasen recognized as a traditional craft of Nara.
Kubo Komakichi continues this lineage through handcrafted bamboo tea tools made one by one. His family carries over 500 years of chasen-making history, preserving a craft that requires precision, patience, and deep sensitivity to bamboo.
For Chafinity, these tools are not simply accessories. The chasen is what brings matcha to life — blending powder and water into a smooth, living bowl. The chashaku invites measurement with care, turning preparation into practice.
Featured pieces:
Chasen 茶筅
Shin Kazuho Chasen 真数穂茶筅
Chashaku 茶杓
Kubo Komakichi｜久保駒吉
Ikoma City, Nara, Japan
Chasen + Chashaku Artisan
In the Takayama district of Ikoma City, Nara, bamboo whisks have been shaped by hand for more than 500 years. This region is known as one of Japan’s most important centers for chasen making, with Takayama chasen recognized as a traditional craft of Nara.
Kubo Komakichi continues this lineage through handcrafted bamboo tea tools made one by one. His family carries over 500 years of chasen-making history, preserving a craft that requires precision, patience, and deep sensitivity to bamboo.
For Chafinity, these tools are not simply accessories. The chasen is what brings matcha to life — blending powder and water into a smooth, living bowl. The chashaku invites measurement with care, turning preparation into practice.
Featured pieces:
Chasen 茶筅
Shin Kazuho Chasen 真数穂茶筅
Chashaku 茶杓
Kiyomi Koide
San Francisco, California
Ceramic Artist
Kiyomi Koide is a Bay Area ceramic artist whose work honors the human quality of handmade objects. Her relationship with clay began in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she discovered a quiet passion for pottery. She believes handmade ceramics offer something machines cannot replicate — each piece holding its own texture, story, and subtle imperfection.
For Chafinity, her katakuchi matcha bowls bring together beauty and function. The wide form supports whisking, while the spouted lip allows matcha to be poured with ease — especially when preparing lattes or sharing tea.
Each bowl carries the softness of the hand that made it.
Featured piece:
Katakuchi Matcha Bowl 片口茶碗
Miyagawa Kosai｜宮川香齋
Kyoto, Japan
Makuzu-yaki Ceramic Artisan
IMakuzu-yaki is a Kyoto ceramic tradition carried through the Miyagawa family for approximately 330 years. The current Miyagawa Kosai is the sixth generation to carry the Kosai name and the eleventh generation in the family line. Their work has long included tea ware for both chanoyu and sencha practice.
At Chafinity, Makuzu-yaki represents the meeting of history and presence. Each vessel invites the guest to slow down and notice — the glaze, the weight, the surface, the space between hand and bowl.
These pieces remind us that tea is not only tasted.
It is seen, held, and received.
Featured piece:
Makuzu-yaki Ninsei Green 真葛焼 仁清写し
Miyagawa Kosai｜宮川香齋
Kyoto, Japan
Makuzu-yaki Ceramic Artisan
IMakuzu-yaki is a Kyoto ceramic tradition carried through the Miyagawa family for approximately 330 years. The current Miyagawa Kosai is the sixth generation to carry the Kosai name and the eleventh generation in the family line. Their work has long included tea ware for both chanoyu and sencha practice.
At Chafinity, Makuzu-yaki represents the meeting of history and presence. Each vessel invites the guest to slow down and notice — the glaze, the weight, the surface, the space between hand and bowl.
These pieces remind us that tea is not only tasted.
It is seen, held, and received.
Featured piece:
Makuzu-yaki Ninsei Green 真葛焼 仁清写し
Three Snow Ltd.
Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata, Japan
Metal Craft + Tea Tool Maker
Three Snow Ltd. comes from Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata, a region known for refined metal craftsmanship. Their chakoshi, or matcha sifter, supports one of the simplest but most important steps in matcha preparation: creating a smooth, clump-free powder before whisking.
The sifter gently aerates matcha, allowing the powder to bloom more evenly in water. What seems like a small tool changes the texture of the entire bowl — transforming preparation into a more refined experience. Your website notes this piece as stainless steel with 24k gold plating and not recommended for dishwasher use.
Featured piece:
Chakoshi 茶漉し