茶碗

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 茶碗にご飯をよそいます。▶ —
   I serve rice into the bowl.
2. 茶碗を二つください。▶ —
   Two rice bowls, please.

Collocations

Mnemonic

茶碗 chawan — kanji "tea (茶) + bowl (碗)" → originally a tea ceremony bowl for matcha, later extended to "rice bowl" in daily use (ご飯茶碗). Japanese tableware splits precisely: 茶碗 (rice or tea, daily), お椀 (lacquer soup bowl), どんぶり (large bowl named in 牛丼 / 親子丼), 湯のみ (small teacup), 急須 (kyuusu, teapot). Each vessel by purpose — culinary precision aesthetics. Ceremonial chawan break into 樂焼, 萩焼, 唐津焼 regional kilns, entering ceramics-as-art territory. One word spans daily kitchen, tea-ceremony art, and pottery industry.

Quick check

1. Why did 茶碗 extend from "tea bowl" to "rice bowl"?

   • Small round shape fits both uses; everyday tableware specialization extended the meaning
   • Tea ceremony fell out of use
   • Western tableware shortage
   • Kanji-writing error