These colorful porcelain bowls are used in Japan for eating steamed rice. In Japan, as in much of Asia, rice is the most important dietary staple and is the centerpiece for most meals. In fact, the Japanese word for cooked rice (gohan) is the same as the word for meal. In addition to providing physical nourishment, rice has symbolic meetings to the Japanese that offer spiritual fulfillment, as well. Rice provides a link to JapanOs past, when members of the community banded together to perform the difficult task of irrigating their rice fields. Anthropologists have suggested this community effort had a direct role in shaping todayOs Japan, where cooperation and consensus continue to be driving cultural forces.
In early days, rice was a luxury item due to the significant work required to cultivate it. Possession of rice was a measure of wealth and power. Although modern cultivation methods have made rice available to all, the continuing reverence Japanese show for their rice harkens back to these earlier times.
Rice is particularly important form of nourishment for Japanese children. One of the earliest foods eaten by Japanese children is okayu, a rice porridge. As children grow, parents encourage their children to eat all of their steamed rice by presenting it in child-oriented bowls and calling the grains 'little Buddhas.'
Each bowl is over 4" in diameter and 2" high.
