YOU & ME RICEBOWLS
Husband and wife rice bowls* (a pair of rice bowls) have been one of the typical and traditional wedding gifts in Japan up until now.
Rice plays a very important role in the diet of some Asian countries including Japan. For Japanese people, generally it is very common for them to have their own rice bowl. They choose their rice bowl by design, colour, size, material, or texture in order to use it comfortably every single day. Originally rice bowls are selected by people’s own degree of comfort. However, if two people are to use „husband and wife rice bowls“, I would strongly suggest the rice bowls to be not just a pair of bowls, but something that are more meaningful, interweaving the concept of “Showing respect even if you are close to each other” from the Japanese proverb.
Partnership is supposed to be something beautiful and precious.
However we often forget how hard it is to find a partner, and how valuable a relationship and a partner are. We should still show respect to our partners. even as time goes by we may just become careless to them. We should not take their presence for granted.
The design of “You and Me Rice Bowls” is inspired by the Japanese expression “meshing gears” which means (for things or a relationship) to be in sync with each other. The wavy surface of the bowls represents our individual aspects, characters and also each of us has different perspectives on life. Some, but not all of them can be engaged like gears meshed together, making the partners special to each other. Each bowl is unstable without any support—it can’t stand on the table alone. One is required to hold it all the time during the meal. As the person holds it, by putting their fingers between the wavy parts, it allows them to feel like they are holding their partner’s hand.
The rice bowls become stable if two of them are put together.
Every time someone uses it, it provides them an opportunity to re-think about their partner and re-consider how valuable their partner is— how hard it is to maintain a healthy partnership without care, sympathy, respect and effort required of each other, as well as thankful and grateful feelings towards their partner to struggle together.
*“Husband and wife rice bowls” is the direct translation of the original name of the product in Japanese. Since partners should not be limited to husbands and wives, I have created a substitutional name for this product with a wish.
