鉢 means 'bowl'

As all four kanji represent containers or lids, the essays abound in canning and bottling goods, whether jam or tuna, beer or shochu. Food preparation takes center stage, from grinding spices and kneading dough to cooking mushrooms in a teapot. Things heat up with hibachis, kettles, steam boilers, and the "cauldron of hell"! More unexpectedly, Buddhism keeps popping up, what with ritual vessels and mendicant priests who carry begging bowls. Body parts serve as metaphorical lids and pots. And with more figurative leaps we touch on opening the lid of one's mind and bottling youth.

In Japanese cuisine, beautiful presentations are paramount, beginning with the pottery. Essay 1650 explains the philosophy of such aesthetics, including the Zen idea that the transformation of clay into teacups is a religion itself. The other three essays provide vocabulary that distinguishes between vessels (dishes, bowls, and cups) of different sizes and depths. Those essays explore the terms donburi, hibachi (not what you might think!), suribachi, and hachimaki. Moreover, those sources show how, from a kanji perspective, the crowns of our heads are upside-down pots or flat dishes, also explaining how one might eat a "big serving of the head"!