Michael Plant wrote:
> In the traditional Japanese tea ceremony an iron
> kettle is deployed over a charcoal fire. What is the
> Japanese word for this kettle? And what exactly is
> the English translation for the Japanese word,
> tetsubin? Water heating kettle came first, glaze
> lined tea brewing iron pot came second. No
> number of detailed facts are going to change my
> mind. I would never allow myself to be swayed
> by the facts.
> Michael

Note: Some modern tetsubin are made of alloys which claim to not rust,
I forgot to mention that before.

kama - kettle

shinnari kama - "true shape" based on the pot belly of the Tanuki (a
raccoon-dog) and the original kama, tea kettle, is seen to have this
same shape.

Tetsubin/kama can be made for use on one or both types of heat sources,
generally ro can be used for both heat sources while many furo are
furo-only.

furo - portable hearth/heat source (summer)

ro - hearth (winter)

kama and tetsubin are not interchangable to me personally, but are to
just about everyone else. I call the decorative non-used cast iron tea
kettles tetsubin, while I refer to the real deal old kettles and those
used in tea ceremony kama.

- Dominic