Datapoints:
- From glenn, shin chasen is the preferred chasen type for all temae for Urasenke.
- From Kristina, she was told by the office that she must use shin chasen for her Midorikai hango chaji
- From koster, shin chasen is only used for shin temae (daien no shin, shin no gyo). 80 or 100 tine chasen are used for the rest.
Glenn-sensei notes
- Being a shin chasen describes the shape, not the number of tines.
- ie the tines don’t go straight out (rikyu konomi), or curl inward at the top
- Shin chasen form this rounded shape that bows out and comes back in
- There can be any number of tines, not just 64 (even if that’s what the shops seem to have)
- Urasenke always uses a shin chasen, even for koicha, for all temae.
- Usucha shin chasen
- Interesting on this, the chasen we use is actually shin! and it’s for usucha, as opposed to the one with thicker tines that is made for koicha, or ones of a different shape, ie the rikyu shape which is straight flared out like a triangle.
Guide
See A Guide to Chasen - The All-important Matcha Whisk for a good breakdown on shapes, number of tines, etc.