Natsume: Chu (middle size), Red Lacquer with Black Accents Called Negoro, Lacquer over Plastic (Check Availability)

A natsume or usuchaki is one of the traditional containers for Matcha tea powder for usucha, or thin tea in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. A natsume comes is several sizes, shapes, colors and compositions. This particular motif of black lacquer with a little bit of red/orange lacquer showing through comes from the early days of lacquerware where red/orange lacquer was rare. This design lets you use just a little bit of orange lacquer to the greatest effect.

The popularity of this design has also brought us the opposite design, which has a little bit of black showing through a mostly red/orange coat. This design is called Negoro. The names for Akebono and Negoro are often mixed up, because of the Western similarity of Negoro to the word black, but this is not the case. Here, Negoro is named after The Negoro-shū who were an order of warrior monks based in Negoro-ji temple, in Japan's Kii Province.

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