Japanese pans and pots 鍋とフライパン

Which shape does which job

A wok wants a searing, fast heat and a shape that lets food keep moving, and ours come from Kakumei, Kirameki and Yoshikawa, all iron or treated steel built for stir frying rather than a gentle simmer. A frying pan is the flatter, shallower cousin. We stock both the iron and treated steel kind for searing and the plain aluminium kind for everyday cooking where weight matters more than heat mass. A yukihira style saucepan is the thin stainless pot Japanese kitchens use for miso soup, dashi and small simmered dishes, built to answer heat quickly rather than hold it. A deep frying pot is built around oil rather than a stir fry, either a general deep pan for braising and frying or, in Yoshikawa's Gogi pot, a shape built specifically around tempura. The iron frying pan on this shelf is Kirameki's pure iron pan, plain iron rather than treated steel, meant to be seasoned and to hold heat evenly once it reaches temperature. Cast iron here means Sori Yanagi's Nambu tekki pot and casserole, both built to go from stove or oven to the table and to keep food hot once it gets there. Around all of that sit the aluminium pots built for simmering at the table and the trivets that keep a hot pan off the bench.

Iron and treated steel: the woks and pans built for real heat

The Kakumei Treated-Iron Beijing Wok is hammered carbon steel from the Tsubame-Sanjo metalworking district of Niigata, given a nitriding treatment for rust resistance. Our listing says the cooking surface is ready after a short oil seasoning, with no factory coating to burn off first, and that it takes gas, direct fire, electric and induction; it comes in 30cm and 33cm, and our listing notes that a Yoshikawa lid will not fit it, since the diameter sits slightly differently. The Kirameki Pure Iron Double Fiber Line Stir-fry Wok is high purity iron from the same Tsubame-Sanjo district, its two faces carrying raised fibre-like lines that our listing says help food release and spread heat evenly; it is pre-seasoned, nitrogen treated against rust, fitted with an anti-scald wooden handle, and works on open fire, gas, electric and induction, in 28cm, 30cm, 33cm and 36cm. Kirameki's other iron piece, the Kirameki Japanese Frying Pan, is plain iron at 1.6mm thick with a food grade silicon layer that our listing says dissolves naturally during early use; it suits gas, direct fire, electric and the oven, in 24cm, 26cm, 28cm and 30cm. Our listing does not list it for induction the way the woks above are. Yoshikawa's Cook-Pal Ren line, the Beijing wok, the flat frying pan and the deep frying pan, is steel given a high-temperature treatment that Yoshikawa's own site describes as forming an oxide layer more than five times harder than ordinary iron; there is no anti-rust coating to remove first, and our own listings still recommend seasoning each pan with oil before its first cook. All three take gas, electric and induction: the wok in 30cm, 33cm and 36cm, the flat pan and the deep pan each in 24cm, 26cm and 28cm. Our pan care guide has the full seasoning and washing routine for the Cook-Pal Ren line rather than repeating it here.

Aluminium pans and pots, and why most of them stay off induction

Aluminium is not magnetic, and Wikipedia's entry on induction cooking explains why that matters: an induction hob works by inducing current in a ferromagnetic metal such as cast iron or certain stainless steels, and it typically will not heat copper or aluminium at all, because the field cannot concentrate a current in either one. That is consistent with what our own aluminium listings say. The Hokuriku Aluminum Stepped Pot with Wooden Lid is an anodised aluminium alloy simmering pot with a hammered uchidashi finish for strength and even heat, and its stepped inner rim seats a wooden lid that absorbs excess moisture and helps stop boil-overs, which our listing recommends for oden, nikujaga, noodles and vegetables; it is listed for gas and direct fire only, in 15.5cm and 18.5cm. Nakao's King Anodized Deep Pot with Lid and King Anodized Taper Pot are both anodised aluminium simmering pots: the deep pot in a single 18cm size, the taper pot in 18cm and 21cm. Neither listing states a stove type. Nakao's plain Aluminium Frying Pan and Hammered Aluminium Frying Pan are lightweight aluminium with no stated stove compatibility either, the hammered version taking its face texture from the maker's hammering process; the plain pan comes in 24cm, 27cm and 30cm and the hammered pan in 27cm and 30cm. The Ichiyama Aluminum Alloy Nabe Pot with Wooden Lid is a light, table-ready pot for hot pot and simmering, an aluminium alloy body under a wooden lid, listed for gas stove or direct fire only, in 24cm and 27cm. None of our aluminium listings state induction compatibility, which lines up with the general rule above; if a stove type is not printed on the pan's own listing, do not assume it beyond what that listing says.

Cast iron pots and stainless saucepans

The Yanagi Sori Nambu Tekki Cast Iron Pot is a deep 22cm pot designed by Sori Yanagi and cast in the Nambu tekki tradition. Our listing credits its thick bottom with holding and spreading heat evenly for slow cooking and names baking, frying and steaming as other uses; its size is given as 33cm by 22cm by 10cm with a 3.5L capacity, and it is listed for open fire, oven and induction. The Yanagi Sori Nambu Tekki Cast Iron Shallow Casserole pairs the same cast Nambu tekki iron body with a stainless steel lid. Our listing describes ridges on its base for sear marks and for draining fat and says it can go from stove or oven to the table; it is listed for open fire, oven and induction, but not a microwave. Stainless steel appears in two saucepans with very different current stock. The Nakao King Denji Stainless Steel Sauce Pan is 445M2 grade stainless with a single insulated handle, listed for induction, stove, electric ceramic and oven in 18cm, 21cm and 24cm, but every size is currently out of stock, so treat it as a stove-compatible design to watch for rather than something you can order today. The Yoshikawa Yukihira Saucepan is a thin stainless simmering pot with an internal measuring marker and a pouring lip on both sides of the rim, sized from a small pot for one or two people up to a larger one whose top marker reads two litres, in 16cm, 18cm, 20cm and 22cm; our listing does not state its stove compatibility.

Trivets, and how to pick a size

The Ikenaga Nambu Cast Iron Sakura Shape Trivet is cast iron in a cherry blossom shape, made in Iwate Prefecture with rubber legs and an enamel inner finish, 16.5cm across and 2.1cm tall, sized to sit a hot pot or pan on rather than to double as cookware. The plain Wooden Trivet does the same job in wood, with no stove-side rating to worry about. Choosing a size across this shelf comes down to what the piece needs to hold and where it needs to work. A wok or frying pan wants a diameter that suits your burner and the amount you cook in one batch. An aluminium simmering pot wants a size that matches what you actually reheat or share at the table. A cast iron pot or casserole is heavy enough that a size you can lift full is worth checking before a size you merely admire. Where a piece is listed for gas or direct fire only, as the Hokuriku pot and the Ichiyama nabe pot both are, check that against your own stove before you buy rather than assuming it will work.

How does this connect to care, donabe and the makers

This page covers what each pan and pot is for, its metal, its stove compatibility and its sizes; our pan care guide covers washing, seasoning and drying for the Yoshikawa Cook-Pal Ren line and Nakao's bare aluminium in full, so start there for the day-to-day routine rather than here. A nabe pot is not the same object as a donabe: the Ichiyama pot on this page is an aluminium alloy pot for the same table-simmering job, while our donabe guide covers the clay pots that go directly on a flame, a different material with its own rules. Two of our makers here have their own page: the Ichiyama maker guide covers what else that name appears on in our range. The Ikenaga maker guide covers the company's Nambu ironware kettles and teapots alongside the trivet named above. For the graters, peelers and other prep tools that share the same bench, see our kitchen tools guide. The woks and frying pans collection groups everything on this page that is a wok or a frying pan in one place.

Quick answers

These are the questions people ask us most often about choosing a pan or pot, answered briefly.

Which of these pans and pots work on an induction stove? Kakumei and Kirameki's iron woks, all three Yoshikawa Cook-Pal Ren pieces, both Sori Yanagi cast iron pieces and the Nakao King Denji sauce pan are listed for induction. Our aluminium pans and pots are not listed for induction on any of their pages.

What is the difference between the treated iron pans and the plain aluminium ones? The treated iron and steel pieces, from Kakumei, Kirameki and Yoshikawa, take a hard oxide finish, hold heat and mostly work on induction. Nakao's plain and anodised aluminium pans and pots are lighter, heat faster and are not listed for induction.

Is the Nakao King Denji stainless sauce pan in stock? Not currently. All three of its sizes, 18cm, 21cm and 24cm, are out of stock at the time of writing.

Is the Ichiyama nabe pot the same thing as a donabe? No. The Ichiyama pot is an aluminium alloy pot with a wooden lid for the same table-simmering job a donabe does; a donabe is a clay pot built to sit directly on a flame, and we cover it on its own page.

What is a yukihira style saucepan? A yukihira pot is a thin stainless simmering pot used in Japanese kitchens for miso soup, dashi and small simmered dishes, with an internal measuring marker and a pouring lip on both sides of the rim.

How do I look after these pans day to day? Follow the maker's own routine for the piece you own. Our pan care guide covers seasoning and washing for the Yoshikawa Cook-Pal Ren line and Nakao's bare aluminium; most of the rest on this page are hand wash only, as their own listings state.