Diamond-shaped flower basket

Wada Waichisai I (1851–1901) was a pioneering bamboo artist active in the city of Osaka in the second half of the 1800s. While much remains unknown about his life and practice, the lineage of bamboo art that he established—and which continues today—is considered one of Japan’s most distinguished. The first-generation Wada Waichisai, a specialist of Chinese-style bamboo basketry, catered to a clientele made up largely of members of the literati in Osaka, who practiced a type of Chinese-style tea ceremony called sencha, requiring a variety of vessels fashioned from bamboo. In addition to Wada Waichisai II (1877–1933) and Wada Waichisai III (1899–1975), heirs to the lineage name, Wada Waichisai I’s students included Tanabe Chikuunsai, who established his own prominent lineage of bamboo artists that continues to this day.