Traditional Edo-kiriko sake cups of Japanese glass tableware

Cold and clear sake water really goes well with a crystal glassware, I think. The traditional Japanese cut glass Edo-kiriko certainly makes your sake more taste good.

As the name shows, Edo-kiriko developed in the townsman culture of Edo City (today’s Tokyo). They preferred the mind of “iki” (粋).

Edo-kiriko represents the minds perfectly. With the glass sake cups, you can enjoy drinking and the spirits of Edo.

What is an Edo-kiriko?

“Kiriko” means the Japanese cut glass. Most of the today’s Edo-kiriko is a flashed glass and have some kind of colors including blue, red, and purple. But it had no color in Edo Period (1603-1868).

It is said that the glass shop owner Kagaya Kyubei is the first person to make the Edo-kiriko in 1834. He engraved the patterns in the glasses with an emery.

Furthermore, Shinagawa Industrial Glass Factory was founded and the project to set up the glass industry got its start in 1873. After eight years, Japan government invited British engineer Emanuel Houptman and he taught the technique of cut glass to the dozen Japanese.

They established the technique of Edo-kiriko. Then the cutting way and materials were improved through the 20th century.

In 2004, the government designated Edo-kiriko as the Traditional Crafts. Still today, the craftsmen pursue the beauty and quality of the traditional glassware. They inherit the elegant and frank mind “iki” of the people in Edo.