A lacquerware pot, a set of cups and a serving
tray
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Toso
This spiced sake, considered to have medicinal
qualities, is typically drunk around New
Year's to ensure good health, eternal youth
and long life. Records show that the custom
of drinking toso was practiced at court in the early ninth
century.
The drink is prepared by steeping in sake
or mirin (sweet sake) a package of spices, or tososan - an herbal mixture of cinnamon bark, the
seeds of sansho (Japanese prickly ash), and the roots of
medicinal plants such as bofu and okera, a perennial herb that grows in sunny, dry
mountainous areas. Similarly prepared spiced
beverages include Germany's gluhwein and
the mulled wine found in Europe, especially
around Christmastime.
Toso was introduced to Japan from China, where
the tradition involved hanging a red sack
of herbs in a well on the evening of New
Year's Eve. The next day, the bag was soaked
in sake and offered to a deity in a sakazuki, or sake cup. Then one family member drank
the toso while the others wished for good health.
Toso is usually served in special vessels - a
lacquerware pot, similar in shape to a teapot,
and shallow cups, often seen stacked in threes,
from largest to smallest, on an individual
serving table. A traditional New Year's decoration
affixed to the pot adds to the festive significance
of the occasion.
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