Table Setting#96
The Season of Shin Soba

The harvest of buckwheat comes twice a year in Japan, summer and autumn. And after each harvest, soba made with freshly harvested buckwheat called "Shin soba," is enjoyed by many soba lovers in Japan. "Shin" in Japanese means "new" and is added to the word "soba" to make a distinction from regular soba that is available all year round.
Experience the fresh flavor and aroma of Shin soba with sake and small appetizers on fancy lacquerware.  

Contents

• New-harvest Soba of the Fall Season 
• Sake with Soba
• A Treasure Box of Appetizers 
• Featured Items

Key points of this table setting

1. New-harvest Soba of the Fall Season  　

In Japanese food culture, eating in season is a very basic and important concept.  
Although soba can be enjoyed all year round as there are a variety of dried soba noodles readily available, you can only enjoy Shin soba in the summer and and late fall. Shin soba applies to soba that has been made within 1 or 2 months from the harvest of the buckwheat. 

For the individual serving, we set all the items on a  Reversible Brush Pattern Yamanaka Lacquerware Placemat. The Shin soba is served on the beautifully designed Streamlined Chrysanthemum Yamanaka Lacquerware Deep Plate. The raised rim of the plate highlights the lustrous shine of lacquer and enhances the subtle beige color of the Shin soba.

We chose bowls with similar petaled rims to serve the condiments and the soba-tsuyu(dipping sauce for soba). Dipping sauce for soba is usually served in an "soba-choko,"  a bowl specially designed for this purpose, but we used a kobachi from Arita Porcelain Lab to add patterns to the black tray base. 

2. Sake with Soba

The number of soba restaurants soared during the Edo period in Edo(present-day Tokyo). And the custom of drinking sake with soba also began around his time. It was considered "in style" and "sophisticated" to order sake and some appetizers while waiting for the soba to be served as soba restaurants served high-quality sake. 

The sake for our soba meal is served in a stunning Kutani ware sake set. Displayed on the Toyoda Woodcraft Shippou Kanuma Kumiko Long Tray, the bright yellow colors and detailed paintings on the carafe and the cups light up the impression of the table setting. 

3. A Treasure Box of Apperizers 

Light accompaniments are nice to serve with soba and also with sake. To beautifully organize appetizers in small plates neatly on a table, the Hibiki Yamanaka Lacquerware Box is a great item to have. This box comes with a lid and can be divided into 9 small sections with the accompanying partitions. Place various appetizers in small plates or decorated porcelain boxes and fill the lacquerware box with delicious treasures.
Wow your guests by using this handcrafted lacquer box to serve appetizers and sweets for parties in the coming holiday season 

Shin soba can only be savored twice a year, but you can enjoy eating soba all year round. It's a healthy and tasty choice as a light meal with a friend or a family member.

Featured items

Yamanaka Lacquerware

Yamanaka lacquerware is produced in the Yamanaka Onsen area of Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and has a history of about 400 years. The traditional techniques of Yamanaka lacquerware are highly regarded and are known throughout Japan. It is characterized by the use of wood grain patterns to express a natural texture, and is made with great attention to detail. It was designated as a traditional craft by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in 1975.