Originally this tea canister was owned by the eighth shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, Yoshimasa ASHIKAGA, but it was passed through many hands after his death, and later handed over to a tea master Soshitsu SHIMAI living in Hakata, Kyushu, by a merchant in Sakai, Osaka.
もともとは足利義政の所有物であったが、彼の死後は持ち主を転々とし、堺の商人を通じて、博多の島井宗室へ渡った。