Mugs

The cup you reach for before you are properly awake. Every morning, for years.

What makes it comfortable is the weight settling into your palm, the place your fingers find on the handle, and the thinness of the rim against your lip. Carved shinogi ridges, the soft white of kohiki, the depth of ash glaze, bare unglazed clay. The day starts a little differently from the moment you pick it up.

Most hold 250 to 350ml. Porcelain keeps the rim thin and the coffee bright; iron and ash glazes over stoneware hold heat longer and warm the hands through. What actually changes between a thrown mug and a moulded one is covered in our guide to Japanese ceramic mugs. Care is a rinse and a full dry, and that is all.