Chōzubachi

Chōzubachi

A chōzubachi (手水鉢) or water bowl is a vessel used to rinse the hands in Japanese temples, shrines, and gardens. Usually made of stone, it plays an important role in the tea ceremony. Guests use it to wash their hands before entering the tea room, a practice originally adapted from the custom of rinsing one’s mouth and cleansing one’s body before entering the sacred precincts of a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple.

The combination of a chōzubachi and attendant stones in a tea garden is called a tsukubai.

See also

• Chōzuya