Medium Plates: Five Sun or Six, and What Each One Does

Not a large plate, not a mamezara. Plates of five and six sun are the size that comes out most often in Japanese tableware. They work as side plates, they hold a side dish for one, and they are enough for morning toast.

Here we set out when to use five sun and when six, how many you need, and what changes with the shape.

Five sun, or six

Japanese ware is measured in sun. One sun is 3.03cm, so a five-sun plate is about 15cm across. What is called a medium plate runs roughly from four and a half sun to six.

There are all sorts of sizes, but if you are wondering which to start collecting from, we recommend five sun. It works as a side plate, it holds a side dish for one, and it does not take up the cupboard. Six sun sits on the line of "a little small for a main course, a little large for a side," so adding it after the five-sun plates are in place goes better. Sun to cm is set out in the conversion chart, and anything above seven sun in the large plates article.

How many side plates of this size do you need

To put the answer first: rather than four of the same plate, four different plates will bring some play to the table and be easier to live with.

Side plates sit at each person's place, so the table does not lose its balance when they do not match. If anything, one plate each makes it clearer whose is whose. Being able to replace a single plate when one breaks is another reason not to buy in sets.

The price of a medium plate differs from artisan to artisan and the range is wide, which is itself part of the pleasure of choosing. Prices come down compared with large plates, so even choosing one at a time from different artisans, this many comes together without strain.

What changes with the shape

Even at the same five sun, how the rim stands and what shape it takes changes what the plate does.

• Round plate (flat)　The whole face is usable. Suits food without liquid, and is the freest of all for arrangement
• Rimmed plate　A flat frame around the edge. The frame reads as empty space, so even a small amount looks composed. It will take a little liquid too
• Rinka and ryoka (foliate and lobed)　An edge cut in petal shapes. Glaze pools in the notches and darkens, so even an undecorated piece has expression
• Octagonal and sumikiri　Shapes with corners. Mix one into a table of nothing but round plates and the outline sharpens
• Oval　Grilled fish and anything long. It takes up less room than a round plate, which tells when the table is tight

A painted plate works best as a side plate

When a large plate carries a painting, the food and the painting can clash. A medium plate is different. A side plate holds a small amount, so you can use it with the painting still visible.

Sometsuke, drawn in indigo alone, quarrels with nothing. Overglaze painting, with color laid over the glaze, shows at its best beside white rice. Two undecorated plates and two painted ones. At that ratio, a table does not turn too busy.

If you would like to know what the motifs mean before choosing, the article on pottery patterns will help. Cranes and tortoises, pine, bamboo and plum belong to celebrations; plants and flowers can be used with the season.

How to build with large plates and mamezara

A Japanese table is built by lining up plates of different sizes. The medium plate sits in the middle of that, so decide the medium plate first and the sizes above and below follow.

If the medium plate is a white five sun, make the large plate a seven or eight sun with color. Mamezara go the other way: three small painted ones. Those three tiers cover a table. The order to buy in is set out in building a dinner set.

Whether a piece takes the microwave or dishwasher differs from artisan to artisan. Medium plates are used often, so checking before you buy makes life easier afterwards. How to judge is set out in the article on how to tell, as the answers of 73 artisans, so do have a look.

Related Articles

Choosing a Plate

• Large Japanese Plates: Choosing Size, Shape and Depth from Seven Sun
• Mamezara and Small Plates: Sizes and What to Serve
• Japanese Plates: Which Size and Shape for Which Dish
• Japanese Plate Sizes: Sun to cm Conversion Chart
• Japanese Tableware Complete Guide

Reading a Piece

• Shinogi: The Carved Ridges on Japanese Pottery
• Sometsuke: Blue and White Porcelain, Explained
• Microwave and Dishwasher Safe Japanese Pottery: 73 Makers Answer

Go and Look

• Japanese Medium Plates | Handmade, 15–18cm
• Japanese Plates | Handmade Ceramic Plates from Japan
• Japanese Small Plates | Handmade Mamezara & Kozara