Takanochikko is a Kyoto bamboo workshop founded in 1968 by Tadao Takano in Nagaokakyō (長岡京市), now in its third generation. The family cultivates its own bamboo grove of Kitayama (北山) mountain bamboo — raised for four years before harvest — giving them direct control over the raw material from the moment it breaks ground. Kyoto's bamboo craft tradition is closely tied to the city's tea ceremony culture, dating to the fourteenth century when master tea practitioners commissioned utensils from Nishijin bamboo artisans.

Harvested culms are steamed, split by hand, filed at the nodes, and turned on lathes to create cups whose walls are remarkably thin yet resilient. The interior is lacquered for liquid-proofing, whilst the exterior is finished with pine soot (松煙 shōen) or wiped urushi lacquer to deepen the bamboo's natural grain and colour. The process blends ancient technique with practical innovation: bamboo's natural insulating properties mean these cups stay comfortable in the hand regardless of what is inside. Each piece carries the particular lightness and breath of living material.

At iromizu, Takanochikko's bamboo cups sit within Brew Time — vessels for tea, water, or cold drinks that feel unlike anything else in the cupboard. There is a particular pleasure in drinking from a material that grew in the mountains of Kyoto. See them below.