About

I'm Ao. I live in Japan, and I drink tea every day using the tools I write about here.

Why this site exists

There is no shortage of English articles about Japanese teaware. Almost all of them stop at the same place: here are five teapots, here is the one we recommend, here is the button.

What's missing is everything that happens afterwards. How to dry a cast iron kettle so it doesn't rust. Why the inside of your kettle turned white, and why you should leave it alone. What the difference actually is between a kettle you can put on a flame and a teapot you cannot. How to get tea leaves out of a mesh filter without wrecking it.

In Japan this knowledge is ordinary. It gets passed along without being written down. That's precisely why it rarely makes it into English — the people who know it aren't writing in English, and the people writing in English mostly haven't lived with these objects.

What I actually use

A Nambu cast iron kettle. Kyusu from both Tokoname and Banko. A dobin and everyday yunomi. A chasen and the rest of the matcha kit. In the kitchen: an otoshibuta, a bamboo zaru, wooden utensils, a tamagoyaki pan. Around the house: furoshiki, tenugui, a tawashi and a palm-fibre broom.

I buy tea from Kyoto tea houses like Ippodo. I have a soft spot for Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten, for tools from Tsubame-Sanjō, and for Kamawanu's tenugui.

How I write these guides

• Every photo on this site is mine. No stock images, no manufacturer press shots. If you see a rust stain or a water mark, it's from my kitchen.
• I don't review things I haven't used. If a guide covers something I don't own, I say so plainly.
• I check Japanese sources. Makers' own instructions, regional differences, seasonal practice — a lot of it only exists in Japanese.
• I'll tell you when not to buy something. Most people asking about a tetsubin would be happier with something simpler, and I'd rather say that.

How this site is funded

Some links here are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It doesn't change what I recommend — I write the guide first and add links afterwards, only where a link is genuinely useful.The full disclosure is here.

Elsewhere

The small blue oni in the corner of this site is also called Ao. Same name, better at being photographed than I am. He wanders through the seasons on Instagram. He does not, however, own any of these kettles — that part is me.

Questions, corrections, or something you'd like explained? Get in touch.