Kooke (Birdcage Storage) 籠桶

Nakiawase is a game which players breed young birds like Japanese nightingales and compete with one another by determining whose bird sings most beautifully. People made the birds learn how to sing with a whistle. Nakiawase uses equipments such as kooke and nakidai, as illustrated in ""Shunch?dan"" (1845, K?ka 2), a guidebook that introduces how to breed Japanese nigtingales and explains about nakiawase. This particular kooke used during the Sh?wa period follows the same style as the Edo period. The kooke not only stored the birdcage and the bird, but by making a rounded interior, it was designed to echo the bird's chirping. The lavish design of the front panel demonstrates the high level of craftsmanship and the aficionados' fascination for the game at the time.