Shopping

Well as we are now down to only two full weeks in Japan, I went shopping for kitchenware this afternoon. There is a street called Kapabashi, which is lined with kitchen stores. Almost half of them were closed because it is Sunday, but I still managed to find most of the things I was looking for. The rest will have to wait until a visit after work one evening. So far, the tally includes:

• 6 cherry wood miso bowls
• 6 donburi bowls (big bowls for noodles)
• 6 long narrow plates
• 6 more plates (cannot remember exactly the shape)
• 1 hangiri (wooden rice bucket 30 cm diameter with lid)
• cooking chopsticks
• sake flask with six cups
• bamboo wood tea canister with bamboo scoop
• tongs for pickled ginger
  
• four serving dishes - different shapes and sizes
• a soy sauce container
  

I still need to find:

• 6 small cups with lids for serving savoury custard
• 6 soba plates with bamboo mats
• a rice paddle (for serving the rice)
• 6 rice bowls with lids
• 6 chopsticks with rests
• six ladles for use with the donburi bowls (for hot udon/soba noodle soups)
• a soba sauce pot (like a teapot)
  
• a tetsubin (cast iron teapot)
• an oroshigane (japanese grater)

In the process of writing this, I came across this website which has a lot of information about Japanese cooking.