Hasami-ware sake cups made by the great art director and izakaya explorer, Kazuhiko Ota. Zento seems to be good for more than just curry dishes.

. It tastes good at a restaurant, but at home it's not so good... . . However, you can change your life by simply changing the container.

A good example is the Hasami-ware brand "zento" curry plates. Nakazen, based in Hasami-cho, crystallized the techniques it has cultivated since 1917 and created the original "zento" brand.

With ceramic designer Shuntaro Abe at the helm, he has invited curry lovers such as Yuhi Komiyama and Tsurezure Hanako as guests to create unexpected, yet easy-to-use and elegant curry dishes.

Just serve an ordinary curry on this plate, and it will completely become a curry shop's curry. It even tastes better.

Zento, which has so far focused exclusively on curry, will now be selling sake cups.

Sake is the most important thing that changes its taste depending on the vessel. Especially for sake, of which half of the flavor comes from the aroma, the thickness of the vessel and how wide the mouth is open can affect the flavor in any way.

This time, art director and artist Kazuhiko Ota was invited to supervise the creation of three sake cups.

Mr. Ota used to work in Shiseido's advertising department and is a renowned art director, but he is also a great izakaya explorer.

The finished product is a sake cup called "Horai-bai," which is used to "cleanly drink" sake.

As a sake lover, I have long been in search of a sake cup that is easy to drink from and that makes sake taste better. . I have come to the conclusion that porcelain is better than pottery. Clay pottery clouds the taste of sake, while stone porcelain clearly cleans it. The shape of the sake cup should be shallow and flat, not cylindrical. Gugu-dake" sake cups are designed to hold in the aroma, and when you drink, you have to stir the sake, which makes it look ugly and also makes it go down in one gulp. The shallow flat sake cup allows the aroma to spread, and the sake can be drunk easily by placing the rim against the lips and tilting it slightly, creating a beautiful appearance. Sake is also to be tasted with the lips. With the cooperation of a kiln in Hasami, Nagasaki Prefecture, the size, thickness, and mouth feel of the sake cup were idealized. The shallow sake cup is beautiful to hold in the hand, while the deep sake cup allows you to savor the taste. The deep cups allow you to savor the flavors of the sake. Horai = A sacred mountain in the East Sea where immortals live, and is said to be the place of immortality. We hope that a cup of sake will carry your heart to the land of Horai. (Kazuhiko Ota)

This sake cup is designed to look beautiful not only as a vessel, but also as a drinking vessel.

Horai sake cup (shallow sake cup) ¥3,300

Horai Sake Cup (Deep Sake Cup) ¥3,300

A set of two "husband and wife sake cups" was also made.

There is nothing more comforting and precious than a couple who have been together for a long time. And there is nothing more comforting and precious than a cup of sake, when you say "Gorosan" to each other. If the sake cups are the same, the sense of togetherness is further heightened. We created the "husband and wife sake cup" with the image of a husband and wife in mind, based on the image of a pair of carp swimming together. In this way, the couple has swum through the stormy waves of the world and the currents of time without being separated from each other. We hope that drinking together in this cup will lead to mutual health and longevity. （Kazuhiko Ota)

This one is a thoughtful gift.

Couple sake cups (set of 2) ¥6,600

All three drinking vessels will go on sale on Saturday, March 26. ZENTOOnline Storeand will be sold at BRICK & MORTAR in Nakameguro, Tokyo.

At last, "Zento" has stepped into a new realm. The future is truly bright, and we look forward to the end of the line with increasing anticipation.