▁an ▁iron ▁pot ▁called ▁a ▁k ama . ▁Kam ames hi ▁originally ▁referred ▁to ▁rice ▁that ▁was ▁e aten ▁commun ally ▁from ▁the ▁k ama . ▁Cow ork ers ▁or ▁family ▁members ▁either ▁a te ▁directly ▁from ▁the ▁k ama ▁pot ▁or ▁by ▁transfer ring ▁the ▁rice ▁to ▁individual ▁bow ls . ▁The ▁term ▁emer ged ▁in ▁the ▁late ▁Me iji ▁period , ▁and ▁is ▁associated ▁with ▁the ▁commun al ▁e ating ▁of ▁rice ▁in ▁the ▁after math ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 2 3 ▁Great ▁Kant ō ▁earth qu ake . ▁Later , ▁similar ▁to ▁tak ik omi ▁go han , ▁kam ames hi ▁came ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁a ▁type ▁of ▁Japanese ▁pil af ▁cook ed ▁with ▁various ▁types ▁of ▁meat , ▁sea fo od , ▁and ▁veget ables , ▁and ▁flav ored ▁with ▁so y ▁sau ce , ▁sake , ▁or ▁mir in . ▁By ▁cook ing ▁the ▁rice ▁and ▁various ▁ing red ients ▁in ▁an ▁iron ▁pot , ▁the ▁rice ▁gets ▁slightly ▁burn ed ▁at ▁the ▁bottom ▁which ▁adds ▁a ▁des irable ▁flav or ▁to ▁the ▁rice . ▁K ama ▁designed ▁specifically ▁to ▁prepare ▁kam ames hi ▁appeared ▁on ▁the ▁market ▁as ▁the ▁d ish ▁became ▁popular ▁across ▁Japan , ▁and ▁the ▁prepared ▁kam ames hi ▁is ▁placed ▁directly ▁on ▁the ▁table ▁in ▁its ▁pot ▁for ▁the ▁me al . ▁A ▁small - scale ▁rep lica ▁of ▁the ▁k ama ▁is ▁used ▁to ▁create ▁an ▁individual ▁serving ▁of ▁kam ames hi , ▁and ▁the ▁d ish ▁is ▁now ▁a ▁popular