menu

Collections

Household

In exploring The Japanese House, Museum visitors have had opportunities to become more familiar with Japanese household items. But here is a glimpse at items that may be too delicate to share—ceramic cups, bowls, and chopstick rests; decorative pots and trays; and a covered rice cooker and furoshiki wrapping cloths. Have you used any items like these before?

Name Description Object ID
2009.175.2.1-2 Incense Burner Incense Burner

This yellow ceramic incense burner, called a kōro in Japanese, features a sakura (cherry blossom) design with pink blossoms amid other blue and white flowers with green leaves. The incense burner is an octagonal shape, with three legs and a round, perforated lid with a knob....

2009.175.2.1-2
2009.180.9 Telephone Card Telephone Card

This telephone card features a photograph of a traditional Japanese scene with blooming sakura (cherry blossoms) in the foreground and a forest in the background, with a river and bridge in between. A label in the white border reads "Nissay Union" in blue in English. The back of the...

2009.180.9
2012.1.3 Lobster Vase (front) Vase

This large red clay zogan-ware vase, by the artist Masayuki Imai, is a red-brown color flecked with black. The front features an image of a roughly incised lobster (called an "oo-ebi") filled with grey and reddish/brown glaze.

Masayuki Imai (b. Osaka 1930) began...

2012.1.3
AB 27 Hibachi Hibachi

This small round hibachi (brazier) is made of polished wood on the outside, with a metal bowl inset. The exterior is decorated with a pattern of grape leaves on a vine in gold. This hibachi may either be a miniature model or simply a small unit for ash and charcoal by which to...

AB 27
AB 589 a-m Cloisonne Model Model of the Cloisonné Process

This set of 12 rectangular tiles with rounded corners shows the process of cloisonné. The final design consists of two branches of wisteria (one white, one purple) and leaves with a single orange-colored blossom. The tiles are placed in a wooden case, each within a designated slot. Twelve steps...

AB 589 a-m
AB 76-111 Lacquer Tray (top) Tray

This circular serving tray is made of black lacquer with a curvilinear design in gold and bronze. The design is on both sides of the tray.

It was donated to the Boston Children's Museum by Mr. Masatako Yamaguchi of the Citizens of Kyoto, Japan in 1976 to honor of the Boston...

AB 76-111
AB 76-48 Furoshiki Furoshiki

This furoshiki, or wrapping cloth, is made of a dark green-dyed fabric. It consists of three long panels joined at two seams. The design features the "three friends of winter" (bamboo, plum, and pine trees) and a large mon (family crest) at a bottom corner, here a four-petal...

AB 76-48
AB 77-6 Furoshiki Furoshiki

This furoshiki is made of a cream-colored fabric. A large, multicolored image seated at the lower right corner expands and fills much of the cloth, featuring a brown and gold wheelbarrow overflowing with flowers and leaves, representing the four seasons. There are peonies and wisteria...

AB 77-6
AB 772 Miniature Bucket (lid on) Container

This small wooden bucket, only about six inches high, is a miniature version of a bucket meant to hold eels until they are ready to be cooked. The bucket has an arched handle attached to either side of the basin and a round, flat lid with two protrusions for a handle.

 AB 772
AB 798 Lacquer Tray (top) Lacquer Tray

This small lacquer tray has rounded corners and slightly upturned sides. It has a red background with a gold design of a weeping sakura (cherry tree) and a pheasant in flight. The underside is a darker red with a gold speckle design. The tray is believed to have been either an ashtray...

AB 798
AB 80-14 Vase (front) Vase

This late 20th-century zogan-ware vase was made by the artist Masayuki Imai. It is a rounded, brown-colored vase with a narrow neck and opening. It features a cream-colored bamboo design outlined with fine lines cut into clay; a fan/kite motif is etched out in a similar manner on the...

AB 80-14
AB 80-19 Lacquer Tray (front) Tray

This zara (tray) is made of a vermilion-red lacquer with images of pine needles in gold and green at the center. Pine needles represent resilience—they are one of the "three friends of winter," along with plum blossoms and bamboo, all of which grow during the winter in...

AB 80-19
AB 81-128 Furoshiki Furoshiki

This furoshiki (wrapping cloth) is square in shape and features a village scene design on half of the surface, divided diagonally. The other half is a solid forest green color. The village scene appears to be from the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō print series made by...

AB 81-128
AB 857 a,b Pair of Vases Pair of Vases

This pair of similarly designed ceramic vases feature an orange-red color over a white background. The base tapers up slightly and narrows abruptly at the neck. A design featuring flowers, trees, and birds in a deeper orange color and gold leaf decorates the exterior. The potter, of the...

AB 857 a,b
AB 86 a,b Cloisonne Box Cloisonné Box

This cloisonné (shippō) square container with a lid features a chrysanthemum blossom pattern on the sides and a butterfly pattern on top. The interior has a blue lining.

Cloisonné is a type of enamel in which wires are used to delineate decorative areas ("...

AB 86 a,c
AB XX 182 Charcoal (front) Charcoal

This package of charcoal sticks is unopened, containing 10 sticks. The charcoal sticks, called kairobai, are long, cylindrical tubes. The front of the package is covered in red and blue text in Japanese. Kairo refers to the container that holds the slow-burning charcoal sticks...

AB XX 182