Five Japanese Gifts for the Home Cook
If someone on your list cooks, a Japanese kitchen tool is an easy gift to get right: they're usually simple, well made, and hard to find at a regular store. Here are five, from a $12 gadget to a $100 knife, sorted by price.
Nonoji Cabbage Peeler — a small gadget that shreds a whole cabbage in one motion
Nonoji's two-blade peeler is built to julienne cabbage straight off the head, with the blades angled so the shreds fall away without bunching up. The brand says it has sold over 1.5 million units in Japan. A good small gift for someone who already has the basics.
Hario V60 Ceramic Dripper — for the coffee drinker who wants a better pour-over
Hario has made heat-resistant glass and ceramics in Japan since 1921, and the V60 has been a standard pour-over dripper since its 2005 launch. It's a fit for anyone who already has a kettle and wants more control over how the coffee brews.
Kayanoya Dashi Powder — a shortcut to real Japanese cooking
Kayanoya, from Fukuoka, packs dashi (the kombu-and-bonito stock under most Japanese cooking) into single-serve powder packets, with no simmering or straining. It's the gift for someone who wants to cook Japanese food at home and doesn't know where to start.
Shirayuki Fukin — a dish cloth with an 80-year backstory
Shirayuki Fukin began as a mosquito-net weaver in Nara before turning that same loose weave into kitchen cloths. The cotton-rayon gauze softens with each wash instead of wearing out, which makes it a practical gift people end up using every day.
Global G-2 — the all-steel chef's knife, and the big gift on this list
Global's one-piece stainless 8-inch chef's knife is light, seamless, and easy to keep clean, and it costs about a hundred dollars. If you're picking one knife for a home cook, this is the safest choice.
How to choose
Under $25, go for the peeler or the dripper. Around $40, the dashi packets or the dish cloth. If the gift should feel like a gift, the Global G-2 is the one. For more knife options, see our Japanese chef's knives guide.
More Japan-sourced picks, verified available on Amazon.com, are on the Japan Finds page.