Where it comes from. Hasami, Nagasaki, where porcelain has been fired for over 400 years. The town made bowls for everyday kitchens, not for castles, and that is why its work is strong, light and unfussy.
How it is made. Thrown from porcelain, glazed in layers of white and sand, and fired so the glaze is allowed to run. How far it runs and where it pools is decided by the kiln, so the drips on this bowl are its own and no other's.
Why this shape. The straight cylinder is the winter tea bowl: a tall wall to hold heat and hide the surface of the tea, thinned so the bowl is light in two hands. A heavy bowl tires the hand before the tea is finished.
How it is used in Japan. A working bowl for daily matcha, whisked, drunk from, rinsed and shelved. It comes in a wooden box because that is how a tea bowl is stored and given in Japan.
On your table. Matcha, and the pale glaze also flatters miso soup, a single bowl of rice, or a café-au-lait on a cold morning. Hand wash; no microwave.
