A chabudai (卓袱台 or 茶袱台 or 茶部台) is a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes. The original models ranged in height from 15 cm (5.9 in) to 30 cm (12 in).[1] People seated at a chabudai may sit on zabuton or tatami rather than on chairs. The four legs are generally collapsible so that the table may be moved and stored easily.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Borderless_Art_Museum_NO-MA02n2040.jpg/220px-Borderless_Art_Museum_NO-MA02n2040.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Three_children_at_tea_party%2C_Japan_LCCN2001705660.tif/lossy-page1-220px-Three_children_at_tea_party%2C_Japan_LCCN2001705660.tif.jpg)
Chabudai are used for various purposes, such as study tables, work benches, or dinner tables (shokutaku (食卓、しょくたく)). In the winter, the chabudai is often replaced by a kotatsu, another type of short-legged table equipped with a removable top and a heater underneath.
Since early modern Japan, households have used personal tray tables (zen (膳、ぜん)) for dinner, which are small short-legged tables on which dishes for one person are placed per table. This allowed individuals to freely move the tray table and eat wherever they preferred.[2] After the rise of the chabudai around 1920, the custom of commensality emerged in Japan where families have dinner together around a singular table.[3] Large dishes are placed in the middle of the chabudai to be shared, and individuals take a portion of their desired food.[4] Whereas talking while having dinner was considered disrespectful previously, conversations naturally occurred around the chabudai table, so the table manners eased to accepting dinner table talk.[5]
Gaeshi
editChabudai gaeshi is a Japanese phrase meaning "to flip [the] chabudai". It describes the act of violently upending a chabudai as an expression of anger, frustration, and disapproval. It may also figuratively describe an analogous outburst and upheaval.
Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto "upends the tea table"[clarification needed] whenever a game's development did not meet his standard or needed serious reconsideration. He characterized chabudai gaeshi as an "action of old-fashioned Japanese fathers" that "would destroy the family" if attempted literally in modern Japanese society.[6][7]
A Japanese arcade game, Cho Chabudai Gaeshi, is based upon the scenario of chabudai gaeshi.[8]
See also
edit- Coffee table
- Folding table
- Housing in Japan
- Soban, a similar, small Korean table
References
edit- ^ Ogawa, Hiroshi (ed.). "The Origins and Transition of O-zen" (PDF). Supporting Roles in Food Culture II. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-28. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ^ Nobayashi, Atsushi, ed. (2022). "Making Food in Local and Global Contexts". SpringerLink: 112. doi:10.1007/978-981-19-1048-7.
- ^ Nobayashi, Atsushi, ed. (2022). "Making Food in Local and Global Contexts". SpringerLink: 112–113. doi:10.1007/978-981-19-1048-7.
- ^ Nobayashi, Atsushi, ed. (2022). "Making Food in Local and Global Contexts". SpringerLink: 113. doi:10.1007/978-981-19-1048-7.
- ^ "歴史の小箱 | 三島市郷土資料館". www.city.mishima.shizuoka.jp. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ Serrels, Mark (2013-06-17). "When Was The Last Time Miyamoto 'Upended The Tea Table?'". Kotaku. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
- ^ "スクリーンショット". Archived from the original on 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
- ^ "株式会社タイトー|公式ページ|No考ゲーム|超・ちゃぶ台返し!オフィシャルページ". Archived from the original on 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2011-11-21.