Japanese Cast Iron

J

JAHassell

New member
So I live in Japan right now and I was wondering if anybody knew of any random Japanese cast iron brands worth buying. I have already seen Iwachu and Sori Yanagi. Would any of you have any other suggestions? With the way the train system is here I ought to be able to visit most of these foundries.
 
Ohayou gozaimasu! ... or should I say ... konnichiwa! Ogenki desu ka? Beeru kudasai!

That is sum total of my Japanese vocabulary. Ha!

I'm not sure where you can find cast iron in Japan, but it's a beautiful country, so I'm sure you'll have fun searching for it!
 
Thanks! That's about the extent of my knowledge as well. I use google translate on my phone religiously. Everyone here is friendly and helpful though, so it's cool. They have a lot of crazy designed specialty CI. I found a gyoza cooker that looks awesome. I'm trying to find odd stuff with the build quality of vintage American pieces.
 
A takoyaki pan might be an interesting find, similar to an American gem pan.

Takoyaki was allegedly invented in the mid-1930s, though, so I don't know what sort of vintage examples might exist.
 
There is good cast iron in Japan. They like their cast iron tea pots. One of the most respected makers is a family firm Okamaya in Iwate Prefecture, http://www.nippon.com/en/features/c00617/. Once you are in his shop, you could ask him about other cast iron craftsmen that make other CI pieces. If you are also interested in Japanese knifes or suiseki send me a PM and I can give you names of a couple of good shops. What city are you living in?
 
Currently living in Yokosuka, about an hour south of Tokyo. And yeah, a decent knife shop would be awesome. I'm going to the tea kettle place. That looks awesome. Takoyaki pan looks interesting as well.
 
If you don't mind, take and post some pictures when you are in the Okamaya CI shop. I didn't get a chance to visit it, I discovered it too late during my trip and didn't have time to go there myself. If you think you are going to purchase a CI piece take yen with you, they probably don't take credit cards.
 
Yeah, pix would be no problem. This probably won't happen for a little bit as I'm still on deployment, but when I get back I'll do a follow up post. Probably not going to buy anything from that dude; the cheapest pot in his online shop is like $1200. But going and looking should be free.
 
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