We've seen some pretty tea pots and tea cups—pretty enough to collect and keep on display in prominently located curio cabinets or shelves—and now we can add to them tea boxes. These are truly authentically Japanese, covered with authentic Japanese obi or other exquisite fabrics—authentic, of course!

So, what are these Japanese tea boxes? They are wooden boxes of vastly varying sizes—from 1kg size up to 40kg—lined with sheets of tin to keep tea dry and fresh. With the arrival of Tupperware some decades ago, however, these wooden boxes are hardly ever used in today's Japanese households. They have become more a nostalgic item that these days seems to connect East with West in that it is the Westerner who is interested in this nostalgia. Many women are keen to learn how to cover them, to "upholster" them, thus making them into decorative items, from small boxes to keep on shelves or tables to foot stools or side tables.

I personally became interested in these boxes quite some time ago as I realized the potential of using old Japanese obi for covering them. I felt this combination made a perfect marriage by which to remember Japan.

Below are some examples of the ones, in various sizes, that I have covered. Ones not covered with obi are the last four.