Sakazuki: Landmarks of Japanese Life
These small, delicate sake cups, called sakazuki, hold a deep cultural significance. Sake is a part of many of the most important occasions in a Japanese person’s life, as expressed by the idea of “life’s ten cups” (jinsei jūhai). From the sansankudo ritual, in which a newlywed couple drinks from three sakazuki representing the past, present, and future, to the drinks and memories shared at a wake, sake flows through Japanese life, marking occasions both celebratory and solemn. In that sense, holding a sakazuki in one’s hand is like holding a microcosm of life.
The Ichinokura Sakazuki Art Museum has collected some 1,500 of these little treasures. Most of the pieces were created right here in Ichinokura, a small village that, despite its size, was nevertheless responsible for over half of the domestic output of sakazuki during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection also includes examples from other parts of Japan, allowing visitors to observe the ways glazing technology and regional styles have evolved over the years.