The Cast Iron Kettle: called a “Tetsubin” in Japanese, has been produced in Japan for hundreds of years. It is traditionally a hand crafted object that was developed as an utensil for use in the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
Feel the Japanese Tea Culture
Iron Kettle
Tetsubin (鉄瓶) are Japanese cast-iron kettles with a pouring spout, a lid, and a handle crossing over the top, used for boiling and pouring hot water for drinking purposes, such as for making tea.
Tetsubin are traditionally heated over charcoal. In the Japanese art of chanoyu, the special portable brazier for this is the binkake (瓶掛). (See list of Japanese tea ceremony equipment). Tetsubin are often elaborately decorated with relief designs on the outside. They range widely in size, and many have unusual shapes, making them popular with collectors. A relatively small tetsubin may hold around 0.5 litres of water; large ones may hold around 5 litres.