In the late Edo Period (mid-18th century), vendors carried tea sets and pots on poles and served tea and sweet rice cakes within the precincts of Kasuga Taisha. The cake was served on a plate of Akahadayaki pottery. According to an old guidebook of Nara, “Yamato Meishozue” and other documents, vendors used to serve tea by making a fire with a bamboo blowpipe to boil the water. This unique style of vending, “Ninai Jaya”, became quite popular. It was deemed appropriate for visitors to clean themselves by eating food cooked with clean fire before entering places of worship.