Japanese wooden bucket and dipper adds an exotic touch to your home

Created by Eifu Kawamata

Traditionally, this beautifully handcrafted wooden bucket and dipper set was used at the start of each new year as part of a household’s ritual welcoming of the change in the calendar. At dawn, the bucket would be filled with pure water from a nearby well, stream or river, and the water would be placed on the Shinto altar inside the home for the gods to imbibe. Later, the water would be used in making tea or the family meal, to begin the new year ritually cleansed.

Today, it’s not likely you’ll be using such a utensil for its originally intended purpose. But as a unique Japanese accessory, this eye-catching bucket and dipper are sure to add an exotic touch to your table or to any decor. The bucket in particular is ideal for use as a champagne or wine cooler, and the two-piece set can also function as an unusual punchbowl and ladle. For connoisseurs of Japanese sake, you couldn’t ask for a better serving set — a definite conversation starter! The possibilities are endless.

The unique bucket and dipper are both handcrafted from the finest-quality sawara cypress at least three centuries old. The production process, by a skilled artisan Eifu Kawamata, includes more than 70 steps, each requiring years of experience in woodcrafting. With its copper accents, this is a unique Japanese accessory — ideal to give as a gift, too — that will be treasured for many new years to come.