Usu (Mortar)

Usu (Mortar)

An Usu (Japanese: 臼) is a large Japanese mortar with a pestle called kine (, Japanese: 杵), used to pound rice or millet.

While the function of an usu is similar to the smaller suribachi and surikogi mortars, the shape is very different, as the usu usually lacks the rough pattern in the bowl, and has a differently shaped pestle which is used in a different manner.