By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
AP PHOTOS: 172-year-old Japanese factory preserves traditional way of making cast iron cookware
preview.jpg
Craftsman Katsunori Suzuki takes molten iron into a bucket before carrying it back to his work section to make a cast iron pot manually at the Oigen foundry in Oshu, northeastern Japan, Thursday, May 16, 2024. - photo by AP Photo/Hiro Komae
OSHU, Japan (AP) — Katsunori Suzuki is one of a few craftsmen in Japan still producing cast iron cookware by hand using laborious traditional techniques. The president of the 172-year-old foundry where he works says she wants to keep the tradition alive, even if it costs much more to produce. Suzuki uses moist sand and a few other ingredients to make the molds using a method called “tegome,” or “hand stuffing.” He spends hours tamping the sand in an iron frame to compress it just the right amount to create the mold, in which he carves detailed designs for the pot.