oshibori
thumb|Oshibori presented on a small bamboo stand An oshibori ( or ), or hot towel in English, is a wet hand towel offered to customers in places such as restaurants or bars, and used to clean one's hands before eating. Oshibori have long been part of hospitality culture in Japan: in the Tale of Genji era, it was used for visitors; during the Edo period it was used in hatago; later, it started to be used in many restaurants. It eventually spread to worldwide use. Cold oshibori are used in summer, and hot oshibori in winter. In Japan, October 29 has been observed as the day of oshibori since 200
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Typical ''oshibori''
- Hot and cold ''oshibori''
- Rented ''oshibori''
- ''Oshibori'' dispensers
- Around the world
- See also
- References
- Sources
thumb|Oshibori presented on a small bamboo stand An oshibori ( or ), or hot towel in English, is a wet hand towel offered to customers in places such as restaurants or bars, and used to clean one's hands before eating. Oshibori have long been part of hospitality culture in Japan: in the Tale of Genji era, it was used for visitors; during the Edo period it was used in hatago; later, it started to be used in many restaurants. It eventually spread to worldwide use. Cold oshibori are used in summer, and hot oshibori in winter. In Japan, October 29 has been observed as the day of oshibori since 2004.
==Etymology== The word oshibori comes from the Japanese verb , meaning "to wring", with the honorific prefix o-. In Japanese script, the word oshibori is normally written in hiragana (), and seldom using kanji ( or ).