GUIDES & STORIES
This archive brings together guides that explain how to choose Japanese-made products — such as “Japanese-made frying pans”, “domestic kitchen knives”, “baby tableware”, or plush toys — along with makers' stories and special features. Use it as a starting point when you want to carefully discover tools and daily essentials made in Japan.
Japan exported black tea for a century, then fell from 2,000 tons to 3 in six years. What came back is sweet, low in tannin, and ruined by milk. Read More
About 13 min read
Pressed from one sheet with no welded seams, and sold by a company whose slogan is "dreams will not rust". Why that p... Read More
About 12 min read
Textured washi and fountain pens fight each other. And formal Japanese letter paper is ruled vertically, which Englis... Read More
About 12 min read
Since 2018 "Japan Wine" legally means 100% Japanese-grown grapes; anything else was bottled from imported must. Plus ... Read More
About 13 min read
Twinbird builds where 95% of Japan's flatware is made. Neither the toaster nor the coffee maker has a 120V version — ... Read More
About 13 min readNara wove mosquito netting until repellent killed the market. The cloth survived as a dishcloth that dries too fast t... Read More
About 11 min read
Both descend from the Indian mala, but a juzu is held across both hands and rubbed, not counted. Which type to buy if... Read More
About 12 min read
In 2008 a Tango weaver threw out its power looms and bought hand looms instead. Huntsman stocks the result. First, th... Read More
About 12 min read
Keep-warm dries rice out over hours. A sawara cypress tub buffers moisture instead — better cold rice, not hotter. An... Read More
About 13 min read
The cross-back apron came from Japan and has been copied everywhere. What the design actually does, and what still se... Read More
About 13 min read