Bowls

In Japan you pick the bowl up. It is made to be completed in the hand, so the shape, the weight and even where your fingers land have all been thought through.

Some are cut with shinogi ridges so the fingers find their place. Some carry a gosu blue line drawn in a single breath. Some are white slip over red clay, fired twice at low heat until the surface softens. Rice, soup, a late bowl of noodles. These are made for the meals that happen every day.

A rice bowl for one is usually 11 to 12cm across, a soup bowl a little deeper, a donburi 15cm or wider. Our guide compares every size. Turn one over and the ring you feel is the kodai, carved rather than moulded, so your fingers have somewhere to sit and the heat stays off your palm. The clay is bare there, which is why experienced buyers look at it first.