As vaping and E-cigarettes continue to become more popular in Japan, more and more manufacturers are modeling their products after target="_blank">kiseru--traditional pipes used to smoke finely shredded tobacco. They are most commonly seen at Japanese tea and incense ceremonies today, but especially long versions of the bamboo shaft pipes were even carried as weapons during the Edo period.

The Numata Tea Store in Mie prefecture previously released a very popular kiseru E-cigarette, and have no decided to follow up on it with another model, this time inspired by the famous Heian period courtesan and heroine of the The Tale of the Soga Brothers, Tora Gozen. The vaping kiseru, which is currently seeking release via a crowdfunding project, carries a sleek tiger motif ("tora" means "tiger" in Japanese).

Numata says they've redesigned their popular model to give it a luxurious feel by replacing resin parts with metal.

Should the currently optimistic crowdfunding campaign prove successful, Numata will release the Tora Gozen kiseru on its official online shop. Additional parts, including a LED covers, gold and all black covers, and mouthpieces are available as part of crowdfunding benchmarks.