Things you need for tea lesson

Hi, everyone!
It is raining today. But, it was hot this Sunday. I didn't have to wear long-sleeved clothes. I believe it was the first day that I was only wearing a T-shirt this year.

If you want to start boxing, you need boxing shoes and bandages at least. A glove, ball and bat are needed for baseball. There is some staff needed for taking up the Way of Tea. I’ll introduce the essential items when you start tea lessons.

The blue ones on the left are mine (for men)
The red ones are my wife’s (for women)


Kaishi : packet of paper = Used as a try for sweets
Youji : sweet pick
Sensu : folding fan
Fukusa : cloth = For purifying a tea scoop and tea caddy
Kaishi-ire : tea purse = To keep other items in

When I took the first lesson, my master introduce me these items. And I bought them from her. Every time we come to the lesson, these are the only things we bring. My master has all other utensils and items. I have seen some people are using sensu in the summer. So I knew sensu. But I'm ashamed to say that I had not known about kaishi and fukusa until I started The Way of Tea. I had not seen them in daily life. But actually, Fukusa is used to wrap congratulatory or condolence payments. Kaishi is sometime used at Japanese dinner. If I get into The Way of Tea further, I could learn more about traditional items, I guess... It’s going be interesting! Do you have traditional items in you culture, but you don’t know much about?