A second household utensil never lacking is the “tabako-bon.” This is a small square box, usually of wood, containing a tiny little bowl, also filled with ashes, on the top of which is some live charcoal for lighting the pipes and cigarettes that are smoked by both men and women, and in the box is also a section of bamboo, which forms a tall, slim cup into which are dropped the ashes from pipes and cigarette-ends.
Some object of beauty is necessary to the life of every Japanese household, however humble, and so in one of the rooms is always a recess called “took-no-ma,” which is raised a few inches above the floor. In this recess hangs a “kakemona,” or picture on a scroll, and below it stands a vase containing some arrangement of flowers or branches of a tree. These pictures and floral arrangements have special significance, and are changed from day to day and according to the season.
The members of the family sit on their heels on the cushions, with the hibachis and tabako-bons beside the elder, and therefore most honorable, personages in the household; for age is truly venerated in the East, and the older one grows, the greater the veneration inspired, and the more consideration and courtesy one is shown.
When a guest arrives, a cushion is placed in front of the took-no-ma, which, being the place of honor, is offered as a proof of extreme politeness.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
