Another tray example for Joel. (I promise to stop posting pictures of trays after this!
)
Here's a small tray, obviously Japanese, that I found at a local consignment store. It's lacquered wood:
It has a tasteful design of spidery-looking momiji (red maple leaves), along with a couple of very wispy (almost invisible) pine needles. Typical autumnal motif:
In photo #1, you may notice a trace of a water ring on the right side of the tray. That was my doing ... one day I must've put a cup on the tray that was damp underneath. When I discovered it, I could have kicked myself
So now I use (Japanese-style) coasters:
The tray, all decked out and ready to go:
Is this type of tray really used for sencha? I haven't got a clue! But it does hold a small pot plus cup (or two cups without pot) very nicely. Of course, now that I managed to mess it up with a watermark, I'm a lot more timid about actually
using it...
... and I've been using it to support my sencha habit ever since 
