Nambu Ironware

Cast ironware from Iwate — kettles, teapots and wind chimes. Japan's first designated Traditional Craft (1975); nearly lost, now prized worldwide.

In Iwate, water is still boiled in iron. Nambu ironware grew from two towns: Morioka, where the lords summoned Kyoto kettle-makers in the 1600s to cast vessels for the tea ceremony, and Mizusawa, older by far, where casters had made temple fittings and cooking pots since the twelfth century.

The pebbled arare pattern on a kettle's belly is punched into the mould one dimple at a time. After casting, the iron is fired in a kiln until it grows a skin that will not rust or taint the water. In 1975 it became the first craft Japan formally protected — it nearly disappeared with the modern kitchen, and instead crossed the sea.

See & touch
In Morioka, the Iwachu Iron Hall opens its workshop and gallery free of charge; Morioka Handi-Works Square gathers fifteen workshops under one roof. South in Mizusawa, the OIGEN factory shop runs tours (by appointment) and pours you a cup of water boiled in iron.

Buy
The houses that cast the iron are the houses that sell it — Iwachu, OIGEN, Kamasada. Iwachu and OIGEN ship overseas. (We sell nothing here; this is a guide to where the iron lives.)