Japanese Serving Bowls

These bowls are called "Hari-zansho" and used to serve small portions of vegetables. During a Japanese meal as many as fourteen or more different shaped dishes may be used to serve the many varieties of vegetables or fish and the rice. There is no attempt to use similar patterns or shapes but they are always beautiful and appropriate to what is being served. The amount of dish-washing never seems to be a problem either. Although only one shows in this photograph there are three small balls of clay to make a stable footing.