NOKANRO

It is said that the culture of warming Sake bottles in warm water began in Heian Period. Choshi, a kettle-like pourer made of metal was called Kan’nabe, and people placed it directly on fire to heat Sake. Although the exact year is unknown, NOKANRO, the special utensil to heat Sake was invented sometime between Heian Period and Edo period. It was, in those times, called Kandohko or Nofuuro. In 1613, a Samurai called Tsunenaga Hasekura was dispatched to Europe as the ambassador of the Samurai leader Masamune Date. The picture which was illustrated at that time shows that he presented NOKANRO when he granted an audience with the Roman Pope Paul Ⅴ. It is estimated that from Tenpo years in the late Edo period, NOKANRO (Kandohko) began to spread widely among commoners. It appears in many Ukiyo-e which illustrate the scenes of cherry blossom viewings and outings.

In Edo period, safer and more convenient electric heaters were invented and NOKANRO began to disappear from Japanese people’s daily lives, even its name long forgotten. What we aim to do is to bring back NOKANRO to our lives and spread its culture widely across Japan and to the world.