Kuwa Ko-joku for Boy's day

The kuwa ko-joku (literally small mulberry wood stand) inspired Senso, the Urasenke 4th Generation tea master to build this tana from a traditional stand to hold arrows.  The top and middle shelves had many holes to hold the arrows. 

In this tana, the top shelf edges were beveled into the yahazu or arrow notch shape.  Senso gae this kuwa ko-joku to his brother Koshin, the 4th generation Omotesenke master and it became widely used by Omotesenke followers.   It wasn't until Gengensai (11th generation Urasenke) used it that Urasenke followers began to use it.

Because of its association with archery, this tana is especially appropriate for Boys' Day (Tango no sekku, fifth day of the fifth month).  You can see the kabuto or helmet futaoki is displayed on the middle shelf with the mizusashi.  Because of the tall, narrow shape of this tana, a tsutsu (cylinder) shape mizusashi is preferable.  The space below is for a kensui, but it must be wide and flat as you can see, to fit on the bottom shelf.  Unusually, the hishaku or water ladle, is balanced upside down between the front and back posts rather than on the top shelf.  Because this is a four legged tana, the mizusashi must be pulled all the way out to refill it at the end of the temae. 

The taste of tea shines through

In 1872 the Urasenke 11th generation Grand Tea Master, Gengensai, submitted a formal letter of protest to the Meiji government, the Chado no Gen’i (the  basic idea of the way of tea), objecting to the government’s move to classify chanoyu as a mere “pastime” or “entertainment.”

The original intent of the Way of Tea is to instill loyalty, filial piety, and the Five Constant Virtues (benevolence, sincerity, righteousness, wisdom and trust),  to uphold modesty, propriety and frugality; to encourage the unflagging fulfillment of one’s allotted role in family affairs; to promote service toward peace and well-being of the realm; to have people treat one another with no distinctions of closeness or distance, wealth or poverty; and revere divine providence for the sake of the health and longevity of generations to come.  Because tea is a path with these tenets, strictly and formally regulated, tea gatherings must be recognized as the sincerest form of activity that can be performed without harming the five parts of the body.  The import of all these ideas is present within even the humblest thin-tea service.

Not in clothing, food, or shelter,
Nor in utensils or gardens –
No excess of any kind,
So that by sincere practice
The taste of tea shines through.

This statement won chanoyu official recognition as a true discipline and paved the way for Chado in the modern era.