Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito, carving

It is very common for a Japanese couple to receive a pair Yunomi cups for their anniversary. A pair yunomi signifies the harmony and unification, a sign of happy marriage life. When my parents' 43th anniversary came up, I designed this as a joke (of course I won't show this to them).

Despite their long, happy marriage as a result of romance, my parents have been bickering on each other every day. The subjects varies from day to day, but the continuous theme is that "Why you?" for the last 43 years. This made me think about their marriage, not just the surface layer to show to the society, but the deep, private acceptance and resignation. The crane is a symbol of happiness, marriage, and longevity in Asia, and their monogamy has been praised and used to teach young couples as a perfect way to go. But I wonder if what we see in the behavior of a married couple to us is what they feel, there must be so much more that only they share.

Now I have been happily married for eight years, there so much more for me to learn, observe, and accept. This theme of love and marriage is a great inspiration to me, and this set is one of the pieces that bring me a satisfaction.

Thank god that my parents don't understand English or owning Internet (by choice, they used to have it until one day it became the theme of their argument).

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito, carving, underglaze and glaze painting, gold luster

How to play

The Hanafuda Sake drinking game set is a functional game device. Historically there are many sake-drinking games in Japan: this is a modified version of a performance game with special dice that I designed.

This game can be played with several people or two (perfect for your second date). First, you roll the dice and see what you get. The dice indicates six ideograms as below:

“小“(“small”) with purple Hagi flowers

“中” (“medium”) with Japanese maple leaves

“大” (“large”) with chrysanthemum flowers

“歌” (“sing”) with an Uguisu bird on plum branch, you have to sing a song

“舞” (“dance”) with butterflies and peony flower, you have to perform a dance

“脱” (“strip”) with cherry blossom, you have to strip one article of clothing

Once you get the instruction on the dice (there is English for each Japanese ideogram on the saucer), find your cup on the saucer, finish the sake, and perform the task if you get one. For example, if you get “strip”, don’t just take off your socks – a Burlesque style striptease would be fun, while other players cheer. Once you complete the task, the next player rolls the dice.

Mid-range porcelain, wheel-thrown and a hand-build part, Sgraffito, carving, Gold luster

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito, carving, rainbow luster

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito

Mid-range porcelain, carving, Sgraffito, underglaze and glaze painting

Mid-range porcelain, Sgraffito, glaze painting

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, carving and glaze painting, silver luster

The lid is also a bottomless cup.

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito

Mid-range porcelain, carving, Sgraffito, glaze painting

Wheel-thrown, Carved, Sgraffito, glaze painting

Mid-range Porcelain, wheel-thrown, carving, Sgraffito, glaze painting

Mid-range Porcelain, wheel-thrown, carving, Sgraffito, glaze painting

Mid-range Porcelain, wheel-thrown, Sgraffito, underglaze and glaze painting

Wheel-thrown with a hand-built part, Sgraffito

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown and altered, Sgraffito

Mid-range porcelain, Wheel-thrown, Sgraffito