Glossary of Japanese Pipe Terms

Japanese pipe terms form a vocabulary that grew independently of the Western pipe lexicon, so there is often no direct one-to-one equivalent. A newcomer reading an auction listing or museum label about a kiseru will find "hizara" where a Westerner would expect "bowl," and "tsutsu" where they'd expect "case." The list below groups these terms not alphabetically but by the object family they belong to; for general pipe terminology, see the pipe terminology glossary entry.

Parts of the Pipe

Term	Meaning
hizara (火皿)	The small metal bowl where tobacco is placed
gankubi (雁首)	The curved metal fitting connecting the bowl to the shaft, meaning "goose neck"; in some sources it is referred to together with the bowl
rao (羅宇)	The bamboo or wood shaft; its name is said to derive from Laotian reed
suikuchi (吸口)	The metal mouthpiece
kata	The metal ferrules fitted onto the two ends of the shaft in a rao-kiseru
do	The all-metal body of a nobe-kiseru, running end to end

These terms serve to distinguish two basic types: the three-piece rao-kiseru and the single-piece, all-metal nobe-kiseru. Subtypes are named for the cross-section of the kata or the do; unusual-bodied examples are called kawarigata. On 17th- and 18th-century pipes, a removable ring fitted around the middle of the shaft, used to rest the pipe, is called a tsuba. Heavier examples that could also double as a weapon in a pinch are called kenka-kiseru.

The Carrying Set

Since traditional dress had no pockets, containers were hung from a cord (himo) passed behind the sash (obi). The whole arrangement is called sagemono. The cord is kept from slipping off the sash by a carved toggle at its end, the netsuke; the perforated bead that gathers the cord is the ojime. Common netsuke types are the fully carved-in-the-round katabori, the flat, roundish manju, and kagamibuta, a manju-shaped toggle covered with a metal lid. A layered case for carrying a seal and medicine is called an inro.

A soft tobacco pouch is called a tabako-ire, a hard one a tonkotsu; the latter term is considered a relatively recent addition. The pouch's flap piece is the kanseinui, and the three-piece metal fastener set on it is called kanagu or kanamono. The pipe's case is the kiseru-zutsu, or tsutsu for short: a single-piece, open-ended type is an otoshi-zutsu, one slit along the sides is a wari-zutsu, and a two-piece telescoping type is a muso-zutsu. A set with a netsuke at the end is a sage tabako-ire, and one where the case itself serves as the anchor is a koshizashi tabako-ire. Records indicate that bringing these pieces together into a harmonious whole was the work of the fukuro-monoya, the pouch- and bag-making craftsman.

The Tabletop Set and Tobacco

A tray, box, or drawered chest used indoors is called a tabako-bon; the chest-shaped version is called a tabako-dansu. This set, which dates back to the 17th century, is thought to derive from the equipment of the incense ceremony (kodo). The correspondence can be traced piece by piece: the incense tray (kau-bon) maps onto the tabako-bon itself, the incense burner onto the hi-ire, the ember-holder used to light the pipe, and the vessel for emptying incense ash maps onto the hai-otoshi or haifuki. The tobacco burned in the bowl is kizami-tabako, shredded to the fineness of hair; details are in the tobacco cuts entry.

Spelling Variations

No single standard has formed for romanizing Japanese terms; the same word can be spelled differently from one publication to another. Part of the variation comes from how a long vowel is represented: do, meaning body, is sometimes written doh to indicate its length. Some is simply a matter of preference; tazunagata versus tazunagate, or ganpi versus ganpishi for the lacquered-paper case, fall into this category. Some is outright misreading: the spelling ganbuki, which has no Japanese counterpart, is generally accepted to be a mistaken rendering of gankubi. On top of this, the first consonant of the second element in a compound word often softens; this is why kiseru takes the form "giseru" in compounds like nobe-giseru and hana-mi-giseru. The most widely circulated compiled list in the community is the glossary prepared by John C. Loring in the early 2000s, where a note on disputed spelling is also appended to many entries.