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Now you can practice your master swordsmanship skills with chopsticks and a miniature ceramic opponent.

The Japanese martial art of kendo, or “the way of the sword“, can be traced back to the days of the ancient samurai, when, during a time of peace at the beginning of the 17th century, the sword-wielding warriors needed to find a way to keep their combat skills sharp. Now, you can practice your sword hits outside of the dojo practice hall and on the dinner table, with a new type of chopstick rest shaped in kendo’s distinctive head gear, known as “men” in Japanese.

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Created by Japanese ceramic artist IKKORIE, the unusual chopstick rest has a blue-coloured finish, and faithfully recreates all the details of a full-sized helmet in miniature form.

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When used, the chopsticks can either rest on the head, in a manner that replicates “men”, one of the five strikes in kendo, which is executed as a vertical slash to the opponent’s head, or they can be laid out on the lapels on either side of the helmet.

▼ The “Kendo Men Chopstick Rest” is especially fun to eat with meals where you can shout out “Men!” as you would while fighting in a kendo bout: “ra-MEN!”, “MEN-taiko!”, “MEN-chikatsu!”

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The chopstick rests, available on Japanese handmade market site Minne, retail for 1,800 yen (US$16.56) and have been so popular that they recently sold out online. With a large number of comments and customers requesting another run be made available for sale, we have our fingers crossed that these beautiful creations will be up for purchase again in the near future.

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Source: Japaaan
Images: Minne/NIKKORIE