Education

Sachi takes us through the labor-focused origins of hojicha, a more modern type of Japanese green tea that’s less known to Western audiences. Learn how hojicha differs from teas like sencha and bancha, when to serve it, what makes our House Uji-Hojicha special, and get ideas for culinary (non-beverage applications) from our unofficial BC test kitchen in Tim’s backyard.

Tatara smelting is a traditional Japanese technique for producing steel from iron sand. It began in the 6th century in Kibi Province—now Okayama Prefecture—where craftsmen developed low, box-like furnaces called tatara. These furnaces produced tamahagane (“precious steel”), renowned for its use in swords and tools. The intense, three-day process gradually spread across the iron-rich Chūgoku Mountains, becoming central to Japanese...

Takagi Shoten is a fish processing company based in Ibaraki prefecture that has been operating before World War II.A few years ago, Takashi Takagi-sama became the 6th-generation CEO in his family to run the company. Takagi-sama’s primary goal is to use the highest quality fish in his products.Each can offers consumers the ability to track exactly where the fish they...

In the world of high quality knives, honyaki has earned a reputation as something special — a bit elusive, often admired, and occasionally misunderstood. The term means “true-forged,” referring to a blade made from a single piece of carbon steel, hardened using a method adapted from traditional sword-making. There’s no layering, no laminated core — just one material, shaped by...

Over the holidays, we were so happy to see that our donabes were a popular gift choice for loved ones. Now that the holiday frenzy has settled a bit, we wonder if there may be some lucky recipients of a donabe that are not as familiar with these traditional Japanese ceramic vessels. This is a donabe educational guide for those...

The kitchen knife world is nuanced and what may be true for one knife is not necessarily true for another, even if they look alike or are made from the same materials. Helping customers of all knowledge levels navigate the different options to help them choose a kitchen knife that they want or need is our priority.

During the Sengoku (Warring States) Period, tenuguis were used by samurai to absorb sweat underneath their heavy kabutos then quickly spread to become fashion pieces as head wraps. In modern times people use them as eco-conscious gift wrap.

Based out of Yokkaichi in Mie prefecture, Kagetsu has been a family owned and operated ceramics business for over 160 years.

While there are plenty of opinions concerning which type of blade composition makes the best knife, we’re here to learn and have fun —not to argue; so we will focus on the types of Japanese blade compositions that we see a lot of at the shop, how you can identify them and how knowing more about them can factor into...