Once you have lived in Japan, your world view changes. It seems that Japanese sake should be simple enough; you buy a bottle of rice wine - sake, open it and pour it into a glass and drink it; right? Well NO! This blog will hopefully clarify the Japanese objects that surround sake and traditions of drinking sake in Japan.
Haidai and Choko are simple Japanese terms for items used when drinking sake. Haidai, is the most rare, and is only used during the most formal festivities. An haidai is a sake cup holder. When attending a formal occasion where you are sitting on the floor and served on a small tray (o-zen) with numerous dishes; a dish for soup (miso), a small dish for pickles, a dish for the fish, a dish for vegetables, perhaps a dish for a desert, and your tray is overflowing. In this case you are sitting on the floor, the tray is full, which makes it difficult to find the diminutive sake cup among the plates and dishes. Additionally, it is bad manners to fill your own cup, instead an official server or fellow celebrant fills it from a narrow-necked sake server known as a tokkuri/choko. The word tokkuri appears to be taken from the sound of sake being poured out of the restricted mouth of the sake container.
These items are virtually unknown in the western world. Yet they have a practical purpose on festive formal occasions. The haidai helps the participant easily find their sake cup amongst the array of serving dishes, and assists the participant with the continuous toasts implored on all the guests to raise their cups; yelling out "Kampai" in unison. As the evening wears on, it also helps in finding the sake cup (Choko) as participants need a steady hand and clarity of vision, as the mind becomes more impaired. In the illustration below, antique dealer have sold me the two taller haidai as candle holders, and the one in center shaped as a fan was sold to me as an inkwell. The three choko below are all white porcelain. The center one was created for an anniversary celebration and is marked "Kutani".
HAIDAI and CHOKO:
Haidai and Choko are simple Japanese terms for items used when drinking sake. Haidai, is the most rare, and is only used during the most formal festivities. An haidai is a sake cup holder. When attending a formal occasion where you are sitting on the floor and served on a small tray (o-zen) with numerous dishes; a dish for soup (miso), a small dish for pickles, a dish for the fish, a dish for vegetables, perhaps a dish for a desert, and your tray is overflowing. In this case you are sitting on the floor, the tray is full, which makes it difficult to find the diminutive sake cup among the plates and dishes. Additionally, it is bad manners to fill your own cup, instead an official server or fellow celebrant fills it from a narrow-necked sake server known as a tokkuri/choko. The word tokkuri appears to be taken from the sound of sake being poured out of the restricted mouth of the sake container.
These items are virtually unknown in the western world. Yet they have a practical purpose on festive formal occasions. The haidai helps the participant easily find their sake cup amongst the array of serving dishes, and assists the participant with the continuous toasts implored on all the guests to raise their cups; yelling out "Kampai" in unison. As the evening wears on, it also helps in finding the sake cup (Choko) as participants need a steady hand and clarity of vision, as the mind becomes more impaired. In the illustration below, antique dealer have sold me the two taller haidai as candle holders, and the one in center shaped as a fan was sold to me as an inkwell. The three choko below are all white porcelain. The center one was created for an anniversary celebration and is marked "Kutani".
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| Three Blue & White Porcelain Haidai and three Ochoko |
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| Details of Three Blue & White Haidai Japanese Hirado Style Porcelain One painted with Cherry Blossoms, One with Pine and the Third with a Dragon |
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| Celadon or Seto Porcelain Haidai and Ochoko The Choko on the left is Circa 1920s and the one on the right is Kutani |
A good haidai has a hollow cylindrical column two to three inches tall. The top is open to receive the bottom of the sake cup (choko). In the case of celadon haidai above left, it is in the mushroom-like shape. All of the haidai shown here have an apron at the top, which serves a dual purpose: it contains any spillage from the sake cup and provides a target where the tipsy celebrant may place his cup when not in use.
As demonstrated by the blue & white fan shaped haidai above, they can come in creative shapes, variations and complex sculptural designs. They can be tall or short, narrow or wide, round or square. Now-days, formal festivities are rare, and so many people come up with creative ideas to use their haidai's; including turning them into votive candle holders and small vases.
GUINOMI and CHOSHI or TOKKURI:
Technically, a guinomi is another form of a choko. A choko is often smaller than guinomi and is commonly made of porcelain, whereas, a guinomi is a little larger and deeper. Many Japanese historians believe that the guinomi was created after the tea-bowl. Guinomi are most often stoneware as in the case below. Next to the sake cup is a choshi/tokkuri. The tokkuri below is a sake flask used for storing and pouring sake. Commonly stoneware, and come in a variety of sizes, it usually has a narrow mouth and wide hip. Choshi are most often porcelain and are very common.
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| Oribe - A style of Seto and Mino Stoneware A Guinomi (green Oribe sake cup), Tokkuri (sake flask) and small incense holder pictured with a wood-carved Bodhisattva. |
The Oribe objects above, are of the style of Seto and Mino stoneware made prevalent by the aesthetics of samurai Tea Master - Furuta Oribe. Oribe pottery is typically associated with green over glaze and tetsu-e iron painting. In terms of form, Oribe ware is more free-flowing.
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| Contemporary Blue & White Porcelain Sake Cups and Choshi (Sake Flask) Pictured with a small jade carving of a Buddha with nap-sack on top of a natural wooden stand |
Tokkuri - sake flasks are traditionally made by pottery artisans that work in stoneware and depending on the potter, are highly-prized. Unlike Choshi - sake flasks that are very common, made of porcelain and are mass-produced, as in the case below.
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| Modern style porcelain sake cups and flask with spout pictured with sake bottle and antique ceramic Blanc de Chine Bodhisattva - Goddess of Mercy. |
When digging through your favorite thrift store look for tokkuri - sake pourers and guinomi - sake cups that are hand made, fired in a wood-burning kiln, and have a sense of flair. There were a lot of grandfathers and grandmothers assigned to Japan starting in the 1940s and 50s that collected the finest crafts, and now their families are disposing of their belongings. I hope you find a Japanese treasure.
References:
- Ode to Japanese Pottery, Sake Cups and Flasks, by Robert Lee Yellin, Copyright 2004
- Haidai (Sake-Cup Stands), Kampai! - Giving a Lift to Your Spirits, by Stephen & Michiko Levine, Daruma, Japanese Art & Antiques Magazine, Issue 47, Summer 2005
- Sake Pourers and Cups, Text by Gary Calwallader, Daruma, Japanese Art & Antiques Magazine, Issue 26, Spring 2000
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