Items from Hitachiya in Torrance

Palm plant wok scrubbers: Effective on all kinds of pots, not just woks. $3 to $8.

Sori Yanagi teakettle: This iconic water kettle was designed by the renowned Japanese designer Sori Yanagi, who died last year. His butterfly stool is in the permanent collection of MoMA in New York. $120. and $130.

Hammered steel woks: I ended up buying quite a bit for my own kitchen, including this wok with a surface as smooth as silk. They’ve been made in Yokohama since the 1940s. From $29.08 to $73.98.

Higi sudare: I coveted these small mats, woven of slender twigs, for serving sashimi. The idea is to lay them over a bed of ice. $26.40.

Bamboo shopping baskets: In Tokyo, sushi chefs shopping at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo load them with ice and place the fish on top. The weave is porous enough that the water from the melting ice drains out the bottom. Three sizes, $89, $117 and $124.

Horsehair strainer: A strainer with cedar sides, cherry wood lacing and a woven horsehair mesh is an object of beauty. The horsehair is woven so finely it removes every bit of fiber to give extremely smooth purées. Small mesh, $103.06; large mesh, $110.86.

Handmade steel vegetable cutters: In the shapes of rabbits, butterflies, turtles and dragonflies, I want to collect a menagerie. They could also be used to cut small crackers for soup garnishes too. $12 to $55.