Do You Know A Special Kind Of Tokkuri (Sake Serving Bottole) That Can Chirp?

With Japanese traditional custom, people make a toast and drink Sake to celebrate the New Year even from morning between January 1st and 3rd. Originally the Sake was a special kind of medical drinks called "Toso" or "Otoso". The ingredients were a mixture of Chinese medicines, and people put it into Sake by hoping a longevity and drink for New Year's toast.

You can still find the powder mixture for the traditional medical drinks before New Year, but nowadays many people drink just plain Sake although they still call it "Toso" or "Otoso". The word probably had become a word for new-year-toast Sake. 

By the way, for these occasion people tend to use more old-fashioned Sake set. Traditionally, Sake is served with Sake serving bottles called "Tokkuri", and small Sake cups called "Choko", as you can see in the photos. They are made of ceramics and very useful since Sake can be served with both of cold temperature and hot temperature, and china ware can work well for both condition. During New Year's celebration, when families get together they serve Sake each other with these traditional Sake set and make a toast at home.

As I wrote in my previous post on January 3rd, this year is a "Year of Bird" in Japan. So, I'd like to introduce a special kind of Tokkuri (Sake serving bottle) which would fit to celebrate this New Year. It is shown in the upper right hand side photo and lower photo.  

The Tokkuri (Sake serving bottle) has a little bird on the top. Actually the bird is not only a design. Underneath of the bird there is a hole and with the structure the bottle itself works as a whistle. Every time when it is tilted to serve Sake, the bottle make a sound like the little bird is chirping. 

This kind of Tokkuri (Sake serving bottle) is called "Uguisu Dokkuri". It means "Bush-Warbler's Sake Serving Bottle". It would be a perfect item to serve Sake for this New Year!

If you are interested in the sound of "Uguisu Dokkuri", there is a short video of it below. Please check it to hear how the little bush-warbler chirps!