Japanese Military Sake Cups

[Junmai Ginjo]

Hello All,

I am a collector of Japanese Military Sake Cups from 1894-1945. I was wondering if anyone has any information they can share on the manufacturers of these fine cups or the avialability of them in Japan. I have many that I have purchased on eBay and was interested in knowing how to find them directly from Japan. Also, if anyone has any stories relating to Sake and ritual, be it military or not. Thanks - Jim:cup:

[deadhippo]

Hi, I don't know where to get these cups but I'll do some research. I did hear something interesting about sake recently. You probably know this one though.
I discovered why sake was traditionally drank heated but these days it is quite common to be drank chilled.
The reason was pretty simple. In the old days sake contained many impurities and it was heated to high temperatures to kill the bacteria and such like that would have made the drinker sick. These days the purity levels of sake are quite high so there is no need to heat it.

[Junmai Ginjo]

Thanks deadhippo! I have lots of information on cups and even have a web site dedicated to it. I am trying to gather as much information about this topic and Sake in general as I can. Thanks for the information on heating of Sake, I did not know this and it makes perfect sense! Thanks - Jim
:smile:

[deadhippo]

NP,
BTW , you have some rendering issues on your site
i use firefox

[yaschan]

Myself I prefer hot sake. Here in Finland we import only "Gekkeikan" one of the biggest sake brands in Japan. Its taste is OK, but maybe a bit too general.
There is also a special kind of way of drinking sake called "yuki-mi-sake" which means drinking of warm sake and viewing of snowy scenery.
Probably you know this stuff but you can also check: http://hanami.ath.cx/sake.html

[yaschan]

By the way, sake is heated in bottles called "Tokkuri" http://hanami.ath.cx/tokkuri.html

[Junmai Ginjo]

Hello All,
Thanks for the information! I have been a Sake fan for many years and have an advanced knowledge of the types, how it is made etc., I was hoping that someone could provide any information on where I could purchase Military cups (other than eBay) or photos that have a Sake theme. Photos are more important to me as I have well over 200 cups, I would like to start a photo history of anything Sake - be it military or not - any insight would be great - again - thanks for the great information! PS - Japan 101 is the best site on the web for anything Japanese!