Cotowaku White Rabbit Soba Choko Cup

This is a Mino ware dish.

This is a soba choko, a bowl used for dipping the sauce when eating soba noodles. The traditional way to eat soba is to pick up the noodles from the basket with chopsticks, dip them briefly into the sauce in the soba choko, and slurp them with a satisfying sound—considered a stylish (and cool) way to enjoy the dish in Japan.

The white background features a playful blue rabbit design, making it a charming and delightful piece.

Mino ware originated during the Momoyama period, alongside the rise of "chanoyu" (the Japanese tea ceremony), and is produced mainly in the Toki city area of Gifu Prefecture. It has been particularly beloved by the tea masters of the Momoyama period, when Japan’s "wabi-sabi" culture first flourished. The representative colors of Mino ware include the elegant pale yellow "Kizeto," the lustrous jet black "Setoguro," the milky white "Shino ware" reminiscent of soft skin, and the rare, unique green designs of "Oribe ware." Today, Mino ware accounts for over half of Japan's domestic production of porcelain tableware.