HASAMI PORCELAIN: Which Pieces to Buy First

Most Japanese tableware is bought one piece at a time, from one kiln or another, and the pieces end up sharing a table without sharing anything else. HASAMI PORCELAIN works the other way around. Every plate, bowl and mug is built on one of five diameters, so a plate becomes a lid, a mug nests into another mug, and a collection that grows over years still stacks into the same columns. That is the whole idea, and it is also the reason the first order is confusing: you are not picking a set, you are picking sizes.

The short answer for one or two people: start with two mugs, two 7-3/8 inch plates and two 7-3/8 inch bowls, about $232 at the designer's own store. If that is too much for a first try, one mug and one 7-3/8 inch plate is $68 and tells you whether you like living with an unglazed surface. Prices and specifications below come from Tortoise General Store, the Los Angeles shop owned by the person who directed the line, checked on September 9, 2026.

What you are actually buying

The line is made in Hasami, a town in Nagasaki that has produced ceramics for more than 400 years, across several factories and kilns rather than one workshop. The clay is porcelain mixed with crushed Amakusa stone, which is where the sandy surface and the color variation come from. What makes it unusual is the direction: Takuhiro Shinomoto developed it from California for American eating habits, borrowing the stacking logic from jubako, the tiered boxes used for New Year food, and from oryoki, the nesting bowls Buddhist monks eat from.

In practice that means the sizes are chosen for a dinner plate and a coffee mug rather than for a Japanese place setting. If you are furnishing a table with rice bowls and donburi bowls, this is a different job: those are shaped around a portion of rice, and these are shaped around stacking.

One diameter runs through everything

There are five working diameters: 3-3/8, 5-5/8, 7-3/8, 8-5/8 and 10 inches, plus an 11-7/8 inch plate at the top. Within any one of them, the plate, the bowl and the mug share a footprint. The store lists the plates as plates and lids for that reason, and the effect on a small kitchen is real: a growing collection goes up rather than sideways.

What the pieces cost by size

Prices are per piece, in the Natural, Black, Gloss Gray and Gloss White finishes, which all cost the same. Ash White and Dark Gray are separate series priced slightly differently.

Natural, black, or one of the glazes

Natural and black are unglazed on the outside, and that is what people mean when they talk about the texture of this line. It is closer to fine sandpaper than to a smooth cup, and it is the reason a full mug is easy to hold. It is also the reason the surface changes: the store is direct about this and says every finish will darken, stain and take on a patina with age, with black showing the most change where it meets oils, eventually turning slightly metallic. Baking soda and vinegar are what the store suggests for controlling that on black pieces.

Gloss Gray and Gloss White put a glaze over the same shapes, which keeps the inside easier to wipe clean and takes marks more slowly. Ash White and Dark Gray are a separate series at their own prices, running up to about $7 more per plate and $15 more per bowl than the Natural line. Retailers use these names loosely, so check the model prefix rather than the color word: HP is Natural, HPB black, HPM Gloss Gray, HPW Gloss White, HAW Ash White and HDG Dark Gray.

A first set for one or two people

Two mugs, two 7-3/8 inch plates and two 7-3/8 inch bowls handle a normal week: coffee, toast on the plate, a bowl of noodles or a salad for dinner, and the plate on top of the bowl when half of it goes in the fridge. That is $232 at the store's Natural prices, which also clears the store's $200 threshold for free US shipping outside Hawaii and Alaska. Adding two 5-5/8 inch plates at $24 each gives you side plates that also serve as lids for the smaller bowls later.

What to leave out of the first order: the 10 inch pieces, which are handsome and heavy and not what you reach for daily, and the 3-3/8 inch plates, which are lovely but easy to add later for $12 when you know you want them. If you want a table of small plates for side dishes, that is a different way to set a table and worth deciding on its own.

How the three compare

Our picks

Pick #1: Mug, Medium (HP020), $36

Buy this one first, whatever else you decide. It is the middle of three heights on the same 3-3/8 inch base, roughly 13 ounces, which is a normal mug of coffee rather than a small European cup or an American diner mug. The unglazed outside is the point: it grips without a coaster's worth of condensation, and it is the fastest way to find out whether you like a surface that is not smooth. Put a 3-3/8 inch plate on top and it keeps tea hot; put one underneath and you have a saucer.

Best for: anyone testing the line before committing, and anyone who wants a mug that stacks. Avoid if: you want a large mug you do not have to refill, in which case take the Large at $38. Main drawback: the squared handle is small, so it takes one or two fingers rather than a full grip.

Pick #2: Plate 7-3/8 in (HP003), $32

This is the size to own two of. It is a lunch plate, a lid for the 7-3/8 inch bowl and a tray for a mug and a pastry, which is why the store lists the plates as plates and lids. The wall is low but present, so a fork stays where you put it and a sauce does not immediately run to the table.

Best for: the one piece to buy in pairs, because it doubles as the lid for the bowl below. Avoid if: you serve dinners with sauce or a lot of volume, where the 8-5/8 inch plate at $48 or the bowl is the better shape. Main drawback: at 7-3/8 inches it is smaller than a US dinner plate, so it is lunch rather than a full plated dinner.

Pick #3: Round Bowl 7-3/8 in (HP032), $48

The round bowl curves where the standard bowl goes straight up, which makes it easier to eat noodles and salad out of and easier to get a spoon around. At 7-3/8 inches it is a dinner for one rather than a side dish. Pair it with the plate above and you have a covered container for the fridge, which quietly replaces a lot of plastic.

Best for: eating a whole meal out of one bowl, and covering the leftovers with a plate. Avoid if: you mostly want a deep soup or rice bowl, where the straight-sided bowl at the same price and diameter is the more upright shape. Main drawback: it is the priciest of the three, and two of them cost more than the mugs and plates combined.

Three different things are sold as Hasami

This is where US buyers lose money, because a search returns all three and they look plausible next to each other.

• HASAMI PORCELAIN is this line: matte or glazed, one diameter per size, model numbers starting HP, HPB, HPM, HPW, HAW or HDG.
• HASAMI block mugs and the SEASON series are from Maruhiro, a different company. They also stack and they also come from Hasami, but they are glossy, brightly colored and a separate product.
• Hasami ware is the pottery of the town as a whole, made by many kilns. Plenty of it is good and none of it is this.

Living with it

Dishwasher and microwave are both fine, according to the store. The oven and an open flame are not, so this is tableware rather than cookware. The store also notes that the pieces can chip under frequent or hard impact, and the unglazed rim is the part that shows it, which argues for stacking these in a cabinet rather than leaving them to knock together in a crowded rack.

The photos in this article come from homes in Japan and show how the pieces are used and stored there. They are examples, not evidence of how the line sells or how it holds up over years, and we have not run our own durability tests.

Frequently asked questions

Ready to buy?

Check the model number before you order, and remember that the diameter is what decides whether a new piece works with the ones you own. Prices below were taken from the designer's store on September 9, 2026 and will change; the full collection and the standard bowls are worth a look if you want a size this guide does not cover.