Standard Shape
Gourds are catagorized by shape, the Japanese Standard shape is the bottle shape similar to the world famous Sennari, one exception is the Kuokusho-Sennari, which can have a varying shape, from a lump in the neck type shape, to something similar to a miniature dipper gourd.

Japanese Hyotan Naming Convention
Names of Japanese Gourds, as with the rest of the world, are based on origin, size, growth, etc.  Much like English speaking gourd growers, we have the Mexican Bottle, Hopi Rattle Gourd, Long Handle Dipper, etc.  With the Large Japanese Standard, "ichi" means one, as an Identifiable one,in this case, large one, or largest on.  the beginning of the gourd type is the location where these gourds are grown, like Tateyama-ichi, meaning the largest gourd from Tateyama region.

Sennari means thousand gourd, Hyakunari means hundred gourd.

As in Chiyo-ni's haiku:

"Hyakunari ya tsuru hitosuji no kokoro yori"

a hundred gourds
from the heart
of one vine 

I found the naming convention interesting, and I just love understanding the naming conventions a little more, than just memorizing a name for something.  We hope you have enjoyed this too.
Dan Dunkin, The Gourd Reserve

Jumbo Hyotan Society web page is hosted in English by The Gourd Reserve