Keep it long, treasure it long.

For short-term storage of cooked rice

Ohitsu is a wooden container for cooked rice. It is a traditional Japanese tool to temporary store rice after it is cooked. Nowadays, people usually use an electric rice cooker to make rice, but they have used a cooking stove in the old days. Ohitsu was a practical tool to put cooked rice from the stove and to serve the rice on a dining table.

The great thing about Ohitsu is that it maintains the amount of moisture in good condition. Usually, cooked rice contains lots of moisture inside. That is why rice becomes mushy when you leave it for a long time. However, when you use Ohitsu, the wood absorbs excessive moisture from rice and keeps the firm and silky texture of rice.

The amount of rice you could put in the Ohitsu is for about four people. It also has a rice paddle that could be used for serving rice into a rice bowl. Ohitsu could keep the rice in good condition for about 2-3 hours. The time may vary depending on weather and season.

Producing wood quality

Ohitsu is made of Sawara cypress. The wood contains lots of oil and resistant to moisture. It is also lightweight so that the tree had been used for ship production as well. YAMAICHI, the manufacturer of Ohitsu uses Sawara cypress of which the age is more than 100 years. The characteristics of resistance to water and acid work perfectly for cooking tools.

YAMAICHI uses woods from Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Nagano is a mountainous area where many kinds of old wood are growing. Cypress is one of the representative wood in Nagano, and many temples and shrines have been built with the wood. With this rich circumstance, wood manufacturing has widely spread in this area. YAMAICHI also uses cypress for the products. Based on the high durability and traditional skills, the brand manufactures traditional products and daily tools.