Frequently Asked Questions

English

A chawan (茶碗) is a tea bowl used in japanese (macha) tea ceremony.

They can of course be used in any other context (drinking water every day, hot chocolate, serving food...).
The purpose of a chawan is to be used. Not to stay in its box or on display.

If the specific vibrations of a chawan brings you and your guests a special emotion in your everyday life, then it's a chawan. a chawan is a story, the medium of memories and meaningful experiences, not an object. all the chawans proposed here are created by kuma (www.barbery.net). chawans.net is a one-man-webshop.

A chawan is not a tableware. It's not just an object. It's a handmade unique creation that embeds its creator spirit. See it, choose it, the same way you would see and choose a painting, a sculpture, a jewel.

In western culture, it's difficult to imagine a "bowl" as art. Specially when you can buy perfect series of ceramics for very cheap in any supermarket. In Asia, a chawan has the same status as a painting.

If you are ready to pay two times the price of a chawan for a smartphone that you will throw away in two years but consider too expensive a chawan that will stay with you all your life and that you could proudly pass to your grand-children, then a chawan might not be for you.

Let your feeling answer.

If you had to choose a special pet that would be in your life for many years, what pet would you choose ? For a chawan, it's the same kind of "mutual adoption".

Usually there's a detail that triggers our attraction.
And sometimes it's the chawan's imperfection - because all of the chawans  proposed here, have some.

Of course there are some context that can also help you to choose :

  • a chawan is part of a set of other tea instruments (mizusashi, natsume, kama, kensui) : how can you create the set that have the best harmony, the most intense emotion, the reflection of your style, your personality ? Will your chawan be the best match for other pieces or the main tea instrument ?
  • some chawans work best in a particular season (the tall ones for heating the palm of your guests in winter, the large ones to cool down in summer).
  • some chawans have strong personalities : ascetic, energetic, candid, warm, elegant, unrefined, joyful, melancholic, masculine, childish, etc...
  • if you have already different chawans, will you choose this one as a variation, a contrast ? Will you choose this one for a particular guest or event in mind ?

There are three ranges of chawans on chawans.net
A: chawans priced 200 USD and under
B: chawans priced 450 USD and above
C: chawans priced 900 USD and above

A : just normal cardboard packaging
B : a japanese wood box with cloth, washi, himo
C : a calligraphied wood box with special cloth, washi, himo.

Chawans.net is a one-man-webshop. i send carefully packaged box worldwide. From Kyoto and from Manigod (france). obviously when i am in france, chawans that are stocked in kyoto may take some times to be sent (friends help). and when i am in kyoto, the manigod chawans may take up to a few months to be sent. please contact me before ordering a chawan that you would want as soon as possible so that we can find the best possible solution.



Most of the chawans come with a wood box. They are ordered made. If we don't have in stock the box for your chawan's size we will contact you and you will have three options : to wait for the box (it takes from one to two weeks for us to receive it), to have your chawan sent as fast as possible (if you don't care for the box), or to have it sent later (with the expedition cost at your charge).

With the corona situation, some destination can have several weeks of waiting time to reach their goal...

Feel free to contact me for any questions or specific demands.

Yes. If you are in Japan.
Contact us (sales@chawans.net) for an appointment or go to the places listed in the "Collection" page.
After a month, you can return it, buy it, or borrow another one.

You have the priority if you decide to buy the chawan and if someone online decides to buy it too. If this situation occurs, you have one week to return the chawan if you don't want to keep it.

To borrow a chawan, just like for a check-in in a hotel, you will be asked to create a "member's card" on chawans.net (create an account and pay a symbolic fee with a credit card). Show us an ID and sign the forms for the simple rules regarding the borrowing. That's it ! 

Yes  ! If you are a shop, a gallery, a restaurant, a bar, and you want to display and use some of our chawans, feel free to contact us : sales@chawans.net
Even for japanese people learning tea ceremony in Kyoto, it's a challenge to know where to go and what to buy in order to create a full tea set including all the tea instruments (kama, mizusashi, kensui, chashaku, hishaku, chasen, futaoki, chakin, fukusa...). We can help you with this challenge if you need a tea set to use your chawan. Feel free to contact us : sales@chawans.net

日本語

勿論です

本当

French

Bien sûr et nous serons ravis de vous répondre et de vous guider : sales@chawans.net

Même pour des Japonais apprenant le thé à Kyôto, il est difficile de savoir où aller et quoi acheter pour créer un ensemble complet d'instruments de thé (kama, mizusashi, kensui, chashaku, hishaku, chasen, futaoki, chakin, fukusa...). Soyez libre de nous contacter pour cela : sales@chawans.net