Celebratory Rabbit Items for the Year 2023

Cute, fluffy, rounded rabbits have long been familiar to people as they often appear in folk songs and in old tales. They have been a symbol of domestic safety due to its calm appearance, and of taking a leap forward due to its leaping figure.

The eto are zodiacal animals that form a 12-year cycle that are common sights across the country during the New Year. The eto in 2023 is the rabbit. The twelve signs of the zodiac are often used as characters that symbolize the year. In association with the year of the Rabbit, we would like to introduce Musubi Kiln's recommended 6 products with a rabbit motif that are perfect for the New Year.

It has long been said that if you make new items for daily use at New Year's day, you will have a good year. From the first day of the new year, people use new chopsticks to pray for good health and good fortune. In addition, Chopsticks were considered to be a good-luck talisman that can be associated with the image that comes from food: Stay healthy and Eat well and live long. Therefore, chopsticks are a typical item to be renewed at New Year's.

The chopsticks feature a moon and rabbits designed in ebony. They are square-shaped ebony chopsticks with shell inlays, adding a touch of luxury in your dinning set. Decorating the lacquer with abalone shells is a technique called "Kai-zogan" (shell inlay), one of the traditional techniques of Wakasa lacquerware. The nacreous layer of the abalone shell changes its expression depending on the angle of the light. Ebony is known for its fine, heavy, and hard wood surface, which becomes more lustrous the more it is polished.

It would be nice to welcome the New Year with chopsticks that have a lucky charm, the year 2023 of the rabbit!

Matcha tea is said to have many benefits for us, such as beauty, diet, and health. The catechin in matcha are said to have antiviral properties. Matcha is also effective in preventing colds and flu. To wish for good health throughout the year, how about starting the New Year with a cup of Matcha tea?

This Macha Bowl Chawan is Kutani Ware that is recognized around the world as "Japan Kutani." It features a hopping rabbit and a full moon painted in gold. Hopping rabbit is considered a good-luck charm, meaning leaping forward because of its figure bouncing around. Since it is made on a potter's wheel, it has a warm and comfortable feeling in your hand. Its rich thickness of the bowl keeps freshly brewed matcha warm. This matcha bowl chawan is perfect for the New Year and other festive occasions.

Most people have at least one ceremonial drink of Japanese sake during the New Year. Drinking o-toso, to pray for longevity and good health in the New Year, is believed to expel the past year’s bad fortunes and encourage health and wellness in the upcoming year.

This set of sake cups is decorated with kinsai (gold glaze), one of the iconic symbols of Kutani Ware. Kinsai is created by hand by craftsmen using gold leaf, a specialty of Ishikawa Prefecture. The golden moon and rabbit motif are a great choice for festive occasions as well as for everyday use. The raised texture and natural coloring are truly craftsmanship. The relaxed and soft mouthfeel brings out the rich and delicate flavor of sake.

The zodiac sign of Kutani Ware has been popular as a lucky charm to bring good luck and good fortune. Zodiac home decorations are also lucky charms to pray for the safety of the family in the year to come.

This red good luck mallet with a rabbit sitting on it has decorative patterns and tactile texture added to the smooth porcelain surface. The best place to display such auspicious decorations are in the living room or entrance where the family gathers. It is said that if you shake the mythical good luck mallet and make a wish, you will get whatever you wish for. Just by decorating your room with an adorable rabbit on the lucky mallet, the room will become a more festive image all at once.

Japanese people have long believed in the mystical powers of animals. Therefore, in the middle of the Edo period (1603-1867), the custom of decorating the entrance and living room with ornaments of animals associated with the year's zodiac to welcome the god of the year was started.

This drawstring-shaped bag is called a treasure bag. It is one of the lucky charms said to contain an unlimited amount of treasures and food. The bag is colored bright yellow and decorated with auspicious items such as pine trees, bamboo leaves and plum blossoms. They are painted with a technique known as "mori-e," which is a traditional technique for drawing fine patterns. In the "mori-e" technique, the painting is done not with a brush, but with a unique tool called an "icchin," a narrow-tipped dispenser, and the pattern is painted carefully.

An adorable rabbit sits on the bag, as if it wishes for everyone’s happiness and health.

This decoration features a rabbit on a treasure boat. A treasure boat is a mythical boat carrying the Seven Gods of Good Fortune and loaded with treasures such as gold and silver. The gods are on a boat loaded with treasures because, in ancient Japan, it was believed that happiness would come from a foreign land beyond the sea.

The raised patterns on this figurine with "mori-e" technique have become a representative painting technique for Kutani Ware, but there are fewer craftsmen who specialize in this "mori-e" technique today.

The year of the Rabbit is said to be a good time to start something new and a year full of hope. Home decorations and everyday items with a rabbit motif can be used all year round, as they will protect the house and a family for the year 2023. Find your favorite item and enjoy it for a long time!