Soba-choko ( choko for soba noodles) is a bowl in which to put dipping sauce for chilled buckwheat noodles, or soba. The container called choko has an interesting history. Today, choko means sake cup. During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), choko referred to a small bowl such as this one, which held food served with sake. Once one finished eating the food, a small amount of sake was poured into the dish. It then was swished around and drunk so that one could enjoy the flavors of the food and sake together. Over time, the size of the choko was reduced, and it became solely used as a cup in which to serve sake. Soba-choko has been around for 2 -3 centuries, but in the beginning, it was not specifically for the dipping sauce. It was for the kind of choko mentioned above. Later, soba restaurants started to use round shape choko for the dipping sauce and eventually it got the name soba-choko. Our soba-culture developed around it. Connoisseurs have eagerly collected soba choko, and they have used them in many ways: enjoying sake, serving brewed tea, serving food, and, of course, to put the dipping sauce for soba. Finding a set of 12 similar ones is rare.