Teacups (Yunomi)

A yunomi is the everyday Japanese teacup: taller than it is wide, usually without a handle, sized for the small servings green tea is brewed in. Ours are handmade across Japan's pottery regions, Mino, Hasami, Kutani and Arita, so every glaze is its own, and the range also holds our handled tea mugs and cup-and-saucer sets for anyone who likes a bigger cup.

Which one: a pale inside shows the colour of the tea, so keep one pale cup as your reference. Around 110 to 160 ml for gyokuro and for sharing a pot of sencha; 170 to 250 ml for a sencha cup you refill through the morning; 300 ml and up for an evening hōjicha or genmaicha, where a bigger, thicker cup that holds its heat is the point. Pair it with a kyusu to pour from.

The Everyday Japanese Teacup

A yunomi has no handle, and that is deliberate. You hold it in both hands, and the warmth through the clay is part of drinking from it. The taller shape holds heat longer than a wide bowl, and the size suits the way Japanese green tea is served: small pours, several times, rather than one large mug going cold.

Ours come from several of Japan's ceramic traditions (Mino, Seto, Banko and Hasami among them), and every cup is handmade, so the glaze on yours will differ a little from the photograph. Pooling, colour breaks and small irregularities are how these cups are meant to look: the wabi-sabi aesthetic values the individual piece over the machine-identical one.

Caring for it

Hand wash in warm water, dry fully, and avoid sudden temperature shifts. Unglazed or partially glazed cups should not meet soap.

Pair yours with a kyusu teapot, or find both together in our tea sets. We ship Australia-wide and worldwide, with free Australian shipping over $100.