Microwave Cooking for One by Marie T Smith

Shopping for Microwave Safe Dinnerware

Noritake Dinnerware

The history of Noritake china is closely tied to the history of commerce between the United States and Japan. In 1852 President Fillmore dispatched Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry to Japan to propose a trade agreement with the shogunate government. On July 8, 1853, Perry sailed into Edo (Tokyo) Bay with his seven black ships. After eight days of negotiations, he left stating that he would return the following spring, and in 1854 an agreement was reached.

In 1859 the shogun returned the favor by sending a trade delegation to the United States. Among the representatives was Baron Ichizaemon Morimura. This young, open-minded diplomat soon realized that Japanese ceramics, avidly collected in Europe since the days of Marco Polo, would be much welcomed by the American public. Because of political turmoil in Japan (the downfall of the shogunate and the restoration of the Meiji dynasty), Morimura had to wait until 1876 to act on his theory. That year he established a trading company with offices in Tokyo, and a retail and wholesale office in New York.

The new company, Morimura Brothers, sourced china, gifts and other decorative products in factories around Nagoya, the center of Japan's ceramic production, and exported the wares to a very receptive audience in America.

By 1904, however, Morimura determined to control the design and quality of his exports by building his own factory. He chose a location in a little village named Noritake just outside of Nagoya. But it took six years to perfect a manufacturing process that would meet Morimura's exacting standards. Thus the first china products from the new company, called Nippon Toki Kaisha, left Japan for the U.S. in 1910. Since then the United States has remained the principal market for Noritake china.

For nearly 100 years since that first plate left the factory, Noritake has been setting the table for millions of Americans, and for satisfied consumers world wide. Today Noritake china and Noritake crystal are manufactured in factories located around the world, and exported to over 100 countries. The popularity of the china, and its identification with the little village that is now part of Nagoya city proper, became so great that the company officially changed its name to Noritake Company in 1981.

Noritake Patterns

Noritake Care & Handling

Durability. Did you know that quality porcelain and bone china are actually the strongest ceramic dinnerware materials? It's true. They are fired at the highest temperatures and are made of the strongest ingredients. So you can use your finest china as often as you wish with as much confidence, or more, as your "everyday" set of dishes.

Dishwasher safe. Noritake recently conducted extensive tests on several of its porcelain and bone china patterns and found that they are every bit as dishwasher safe as their everyday dinnerware. So feel free to use your "good china" whenever you want to make an occasion special, or any time at all.

But keep this in mind about all of your dinnerware, glassware and tableware: treat them with the respect that high quality, beautifully crafted products of any kind deserve. Although very strong, porcelain and bone china are still breakable if abused.

• Don't overload your dishwasher with anything. Not only will you risk chipping or breakage, but your dinnerware won't get clean either because the water and detergent won't reach everything!

• Never use too much detergent.

• After the drying cycle, let your tableware cool down to room temperature before handling. The heat temporarily softens metal such as gold or platinum.

• Never put anything with metal (gold or platinum in the pattern or on the rim) in the microwave oven.

Most Noritake casual dinnerware is oven and microwave-safe; detergent, refrigerator and freezer-safe. However, certain precautions should be taken.

• Avoid any sudden temperature change, such as putting a hot item into cool wash water.

• Never expose your casual dinnerware to direct flame, such as the top burners of a gas stove.

• Always be sure that food or liquid is in every piece before it is exposed to heat.

Detergent safe means Noritake technology has protected the delicate decorations from the effects of harsh detergent chemicals.

And follow the same basic logic for loading and washing casual dinnerware in a dishwasher as for formal china.

When it comes to finding Noritake that is difficult to find in stores near you, one of your best resources for acquiring the items you want is eBay, where there are a lot of wonderful finds still in the original boxes. We all receive those odd items as gifts that we have no need for and never use. Yet, one person's junk could be exactly the treasure you want.

If you are having difficulty finding items in your pattern, try posting what you are looking for at eBay Want-It-Now and tell millions of sellers what you want.

Please Note: Not all Noritake is safe for use in the microwave. Patterns with gold or platinum decorations around the rim should not be used in your microwave because microwaves can not pass through metal. If in doubt, use this simple test: Is this Utensil Safe for the Microwave?

Nordic Ware Microwave Plate Cover — Concentrates heat around food and protects microwave oven against splattering!