Senshuraku is upon us and tonight we will see one of our favorite gladiators win the Championship and hoist the Emperor’s Cup. But as fans of sumo know, the Emperor’s Cup is only the tip of the iceberg, the start of a rather lengthy and fascinating procession of trophies and gifts from various sponsors around Japan, and around the globe.

One of the trophies is a massive, porcelain teacup presented by the Hungarian Embassy, called the Hungarian-Japanese Friendship Cup. László Szesztay, Commercial Director of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory in the town of Herend, Hungary was very kind to sit with me (via Zoom) and tell me more about Herend Porcelain and the infamous teacup.

Many fans will remember that the trophy was originally a large vase, nearly 4 ft tall and 82 pounds. Sponsoring a yusho prize was the idea of Suzuki Takao, official importer of Herend porcelain in Japan. He had been importing Herend products since the 1970s and they have been sponsoring the yusho prize in conjunction with the Hungarian Embassy since 1986.

Suzuki’s son, Daisuke, runs the import business now and he came up with the idea of the sumo-sized teacup that we will see tonight, and which replaced the vase in 2019. The trophy itself remains there with the Sumo Kyokai but the wrestler is awarded with a tea set. They are able to pick from about 20 patterns. I presume Hakuho has them all, twice. The dude probably enjoys tea on a different set each day for a whole month. (In reality, he has probably provided them as gifts to tanimachi, or supporters/patrons.)

Each piece of porcelain is hand-painted by Herend artisans. They use the finest clay, feldspar, and quartz, quarried from around Europe. While pottery is fired at 700 to 800 degrees, porcelain is fired at 1400 degrees. The bisque is then glazed and painted. There’s a great video from their website, so I’ve embedded it here.

In 1986, the Herend Porcelain Manufactory was owned by the State. After the Fall of Communism, the state sold off 75% of the company to the workers. So now, the workers collectively own 75% of the company but the state has retained a 25% stake. Big decisions are made at the annual meeting with the worker-owners voting on the issues. Day-to-day affairs are obviously handled by management. The town of Herend is quite the company town and the Herend Porcelain Manufactory is the largest employer.

There is a museum and you can tour the manufactory. Can you say, “Road Trip?” Tachiai is in the early phases of planning just such a trip. If you want to see how things are doing over in Herend, there’s a webcam. I love webcams. We need to bring back the webcam in formats that do not include peoples’ bedrooms. Just saying. Looks like it snowed there, too! It didn’t stick here but that was quite the surprise after several weeks of balmy 70s and 60s.

So, where can you get your own Herend teacup? In the US, Herend products are imported by a group based near DC but they have stores all over the country (via their Store Locator Map). Internationally, you can check out Herend Japan and the main Herend website here.

The big question though: who will be sipping tea in a brand new Herend teacup, Hoshoryu or Kotozakura?