(Almost) Everything I bought in Japan Pt.1

A roundup of hand-made ceramics, Japanese food products, kitchenware & really good vintage.

Apr 02, 2025

Tale as old as time: I landed in Japan with a carry-on, and returned with two large suitcases. This haul is from my first trip in October, which I’m embarrassed to say does not include the other colossal Japan haul from my December trip… I’ll be posting that next because I truly hit the donabe jackpot during the latter. Before my first purchase, I set some ground rules to spare my wallet and my luggage:

Clothing: Must be vintage or made by a Japanese designer/made in Japan.
Ceramics: Handmade pieces only, and ideally crafted by local artisans.
Kitchenware + misc: Quality over quantity, focusing on items I didn’t already own. Spoiler alert I broke this rule.
Rules are meant to be broken

DONABE

I left with 4 donabe, 2 of which are classic, all-purpose style donabe, 1 very special rice donabe made by a renown potter and 3 miniature donabe-shaped vessels for condiments rather than cooking.

I was most excited about this black rice donabe (below on the right) made by KumoiGama which are nearly impossible to find. More on that here: “Currently run by the 9th generation head of family Nakagawa Ippento, Kumoi Kiln makes the highest quality traditional handmade Japanese claypots.” TheJapaneseFoodLab

My first stop in Tokyo was the Takashimaya department store for the Kumoigama exhibit. To my utter dismay, almost every donabe had been sold. I was able to snag the tiny grey and black donabe condiment holders. It wasn’t until the end of my trip that I got my hands on the black rice donabe, thanks to the sweetest friend I made at a restaurant in Kyoto…a story for another time…

The reddish-brown glazed donabe was made my a local ceramisicst in Takayama and the base is a skillet rather than a deep bowl. I’ll use it to steam-fry. The small white one is by Nagatan-Ien — perfect for personal rice dishes/soups. I’ll also use it for serving sauces and condiments.

Nagatan-Ien Premium All Purpose Donabe, Komoi Gama Rice Donabe, Shallow Donabe from a Local Potter from Takoyama, Nagatan-Ien

CERAMICS

An unhinged amount of plates and platters, soy sauce dishes, small bowls, teaware, antique sake cups, chopstick rests, mugs and more… Do I open a gallery?

KITCHENWARE

Lots and lots of knives that I bought at the knife festival in Seki, Gifu and some from Aritsugu in Nishiki Market, wooden items from Hida like drop lids, produce baskets, ladels, rice paddles, hinoiki cutting boars, chopsticks and dessert spoons, trivets, wasabi graters (I use them for ginger, garlic & daikon, too), and little mini salt spoons and cute miniature things…

FOOD

There’s no appropriate way to display the sheer volume of food goods I brought back. Where to begin? So much furikake and rice seasoning. An endless supply of fun condiments like red yuzu kosho, Sansho oil and leek miso. An array of soy sauces, sesame dressing, soup seasoning, ponzu & more. Enough tea and matcha to stock a café. Bonito flakes, kombu, and dried shiitake mushrooms for dashi. High-quality dashi bags for instant dashi convenience. A variety of pickled vegetables and rice bran to try my hand at making my own pickles. SNACKAGE: kinako granola, dried sweet potatoes, rice crackers, matcha cookies, mushroom chips, puffed rice, and more. Koji, vinegars, and VERY fun packaged foods from Muji.

I get so many questions as to how I know what I’m buying and how to cook with it all, so I’ll write up a separate Substack to dive into the food section.