# A Question about Japan--Tobacco Pipes.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 4, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017 "2003-03-04T16:18:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/1 "2003-03-04T16:18:49Z")

</div>

I’ve seen old drawings & prints from Japan, in which both men & women were smoking tobacco in small pipes. There pipes were ceramic or metal, & had a _tiny_ bowl.

What are they called?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/2 "2003-03-04T16:23:03Z")

</div>

Google:

“Japanese pipes called”

Don’t won’t to spoil it for you, but you’ll get a quick answer.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/3 "2003-03-04T16:28:04Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \*  
> \*\*Google:
> 
> “Japanese pipes called”
> 
> Don’t won’t to spoil it for you, but you’ll get a quick answer. \*\*

:dubious:

Google said that this did not match any documents.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/4 "2003-03-04T16:28:31Z")

</div>

BTW, Tony Randall as “Dr. Lao” smoked one in **The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao**.

However, since he was Chinese, I wonder if they are/were popular in China, too.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/5 "2003-03-04T16:29:40Z")

</div>

Strange.

I got “kiseru” right off the bat. (I didn’t include quote marks, if that makes a difference, though.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/6 "2003-03-04T16:30:29Z")

</div>

I think the word you want is _[link deleted]_.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/7 "2003-03-04T16:56:28Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by scr4 \*  
> \*\*I think the word you want is _[link deleted]_. \*\*

That link is a no-no at work, people! :eek: :smack:

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-japan-tobacco-pipes/159017/8 "2003-03-04T17:29:36Z")

</div>

Oops, sorry - I only saw the pictures and didn’t realize it referred to, um, non-tobacco uses of the pipe.