Buying Guides
Choose well, once.
Buying guides for Japan’s table craft, written from the maker’s side.産地の視点で書いた、日本の食卓道具の買い方ガイド。
Kintsugi: Real Urushi Repair vs Kits, and Is It Food Safe?
What traditional kintsugi actually is, how it differs from epoxy kits, whether you can eat from a mended bowl, and when to do it yourself or send it to a repairer.
Takoyaki Pans: Cast Iron, Copper, or Non-Stick?
How to choose a takoyaki pan — cast iron, copper or non-stick, gas or electric, how many holes — and how to season an iron plate so the balls turn instead of tearing.
How to Brew Hojicha at Home — and Roast Your Own
Japan's roasted green tea: boiling water, a short steep, a big pot. How to brew hojicha, what the caffeine numbers really say, and how to roast it yourself in a houroku.
Hangiri and Makisu: The Two Tools for Making Sushi at Home
How a wooden sushi tub and a bamboo rolling mat work, how to size and choose a hangiri and makisu, and the simple care routine that keeps both free of mould and cracks.
Yukihira Pan: Choosing and Caring for a Japanese Saucepan
Why the Japanese yukihira pan is hammered, lidless and made of aluminium — how to choose the size and metal, and the care habits that keep it from turning black.
Japanese Knife Steel Explained: White, Blue, VG-10 and More
What Shirogami, Aogami, VG-10 and SG2 actually mean on a Japanese knife — carbon vs stainless, hardness numbers, clad construction, and which steel suits your kitchen.
Chazutsu: Choosing a Japanese Tea Caddy
Tea goes stale faster than almost anything else in your kitchen. A guide to the Japanese tea caddy — tinplate, pure tin, copper and cherry bark — and how to use one.
Ohitsu and Shamoji: What Japan Does With Rice After It's Cooked
Why a wooden tub beats the rice cooker's keep-warm setting — choosing an ohitsu by wood, shape and size, plus the rice paddle that goes with it, and how to care for both.
Deba, Yanagiba, Usuba: Japan's Single-Bevel Knives
The three traditional Japanese knives ground on one face only — what each is for, what urasuki does, why they're built for right hands, and whether a home cook needs one.
Seiro: Choosing and Living With a Japanese Steamer
Bamboo or cedar, Chinese-style or Japanese-style, and the size that fits your pot — how to choose a seiro steamer, and the care habits that make it last a decade.
The Japanese Table Setting: Where Everything Goes, and Why
Rice left, soup right, chopsticks across the front — the standard washoku layout explained, where the rule comes from, and how to use it on an ordinary Western table.
Japanese Kitchen Gifts: What to Give, and What to Avoid
How to choose a Japanese kitchen gift that actually gets used — matched to how the person cooks — plus the etiquette that decides what an object means in Japan.
Choosing a Yunomi: Japan's Everyday Teacup
The handleless Japanese teacup, explained — the two shapes and what each is for, size, pottery versus porcelain, why sets come in fives, and how to serve tea in one.
Iron Pan Care: Seasoning, Washing, and Keeping It Black
How to season a Japanese iron pan, whether to burn it off first, when soap is fine, and the four habits that decide whether it rusts or lasts fifty years.
Suribachi and Oroshigane: The Two Tools That Grind and Grate
How Japan's grooved mortar and hand-cut metal grater work, how to size and choose them, and the care habits that keep the grooves and teeth sharp for decades.
Japanese Miso Soup Bowls: Size, Lacquer, and Safe Care
A Japanese miso soup bowl is about 11–12 cm across and made of wood to stay cool to hold. Dish soap is fine; most can't go in the dishwasher or microwave.
How to Brew Sencha at Home
Japan's everyday green tea, made properly: how much leaf, how hot the water, how long to wait — and why the second cup is the one that tells you if you got it right.
Choosing a Bento Box
A practical guide to Japanese bento boxes — how to pick the right size, what magewappa, lacquer, plastic and metal each do well, and how to pack and care for them.
Choosing Sake Cups: Ochoko, Guinomi and the Rest
A guide to Japanese sake cups — ochoko, guinomi, sakazuki, masu and glass — how shape and material change the drink, what to serve warm sake in, and how to care for each.
Tamagoyaki Pans: Choosing the Shape and the Metal
Square or rectangular, copper or iron or non-stick — how to choose a tamagoyaki pan, what size to buy, and the care habits that keep it working.
Japanese Rice Bowl Size and How to Choose a Chawan
A standard Japanese rice bowl is about 11–12 cm across and holds a ~150 g serving of rice. How to choose one: fit, porcelain vs stoneware, and care.
The Best Japanese Sharpening Stones: How to Choose a Whetstone
Which Japanese sharpening stone is best to start with — grit numbers explained, the right first stone or two-stone set, finishing stones, soaking, and keeping it flat.
Choosing a Kyusu: Japan's Everyday Teapot
How to pick the side-handled Japanese teapot that suits your tea — handle styles, clay versus porcelain, the strainer that actually matters, and the right size.
Choosing a Hinoki Cutting Board
Why Japanese cypress makes a cutting board that is kind to a knife edge — how to pick the size, thickness and grain, and the care habits that keep one flat and clean.
Choosing Japanese Chopsticks
How to pick Japanese chopsticks that fit your hand — the right length, what the wood and lacquer mean, and how to care for a pair so it lasts for years.
Donabe: Choosing and Breaking In a Japanese Clay Pot
How to pick a donabe, why the clay matters, and the one first-use step — medome — that stops it cracking and leaking. Plus the care habits that make it last.
Japanese Knife Care and Maintenance: Sharpening and Rust Prevention
A simple Japanese knife maintenance routine — whetstone grits and angles, how often to sharpen, and rust prevention for carbon and stainless steel blades.
Caring for Your Matcha Tools: Whisk, Bowl and Scoop
How to break in and look after a bamboo chasen, a matcha bowl and a scoop — the simple habits that keep your tea tools working and make the whisk last.
Gyuto vs Santoku vs Nakiri: Which Japanese Knife Do You Actually Need?
The three Japanese kitchen knives worth owning first — what each one is for, who it suits, and how to choose between them.
Choosing Japanese Ceramics for Everyday
A plain-language guide to Japanese tableware — the pieces worth owning first, what the main pottery towns are known for, and how to read a glaze.
How to Start with Matcha at Home
The three pieces that turn matcha from a café order into a two-minute ritual — the bowl, the whisk, the scoop — and which to buy first.
Nanbu Tetsubin: The Iron Kettle Worth Owning
What a Nanbu cast-iron kettle actually does to your tea, how it differs from an iron teapot, and how to care for one so it lasts generations.