台所 · Kitchen & Table
Japanese Kitchen Tools & Table Culture
Bento boxes, graters, glassware, metalwork and the customs of the Japanese table — the tools and habits that sit between the categories.弁当箱、おろし金、切子、金工、食卓の作法。カテゴリの間にある道具と習慣。
Buying Guides 6
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Makers & Origins 3
Takaoka: The Casting Town Behind Japan's Bronze — and Its Tin
Seven casters arrived in 1611 and Takaoka has poured metal ever since — temple bells, a Great Buddha, now bendable pure-tin bowls. What to buy, and how to care for it.
Edo Kiriko: The Cut Glass That Survived by Being Cheap
Kagoshima's cut glass was a warlord's showpiece and was gone within thirty years. Tokyo's was a shopkeeper's sideline — and it ended up inheriting the colour.
Tsubame-Sanjo: The Two Towns Behind Japan's Tools
Two Niigata towns that started with nails, split into blades and metalwork, and now make most of Japan's cutlery — including the forks at the Nobel banquet.