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Just a few feet east of the Gift Shop is a beautifully carved ornamental water
basin (tsukubai) in the shape of a boat. Stone basins are used by guests to
wash their hands before entering the Tea Room. Water is usually fed through a bamboo
pipe called kakehi. This basin, probably of considerable age, originally came
from a country estate near Tokyo which had been destroyed during the time of World War II.
The basin was purchased by the S. & G. Gump Company in the early 1960s and
they presented it to the Tea Garden. If you look closely, you will see a carved turtle
on the inside stern of the boat. |