在一百年前的明治時代，大量西方知識文化湧入日本，科學首當其衝成為日本邁向文明世界的顯學。然而科學研究時常用的耐熱玻璃，在其時為西方所創，日本如果不想仰賴外國進口，自然就得想法子在本土生產，而在1912年於東京都台東區創業的小泉硝子製作所，就是當時少數掌握耐熱玻璃溶解技術的企業，生產各種醫療實驗用的玻璃器皿，換成在現代，大概就是一家科技新貴企業的存在。
一百年過後，玻璃品已不再時髦，而成為一種尋常的物料，但小泉硝子製作所仍默默地遵照舊法，生產各種耐久，耐熱和耐酸鹼的玻璃製品，成為平常日本人用來醃漬蔬果和肉類的好物。有見及此，小泉硝子製作所近年於就把商品開發的側重點，從醫療實驗轉為生活日常，像這個名為「三ノ輪２丁目」的咖啡壺就是一例。
A century ago during the Meiji Period, Japan began to take in Western know-how, and science was the first subject of interest to become a civilised society. Glass was frequently used in science research, yet it was developed and produced in the West. In order to be independent from Western imports, the Japanese started to produce their own. Koizumi Glass, founded in 1912 in Taito City of Tokyo, was one of the few enterprises that mastered the melting technology of heatproof glass, and they started to produce all kinds of glassware for medical experiments. They can certainly be classified as a technology upstart in today’s context.
A hundred years went by, glass is no longer a novelty and is now an ordinary material. But Koizumi Glass continued their craft – producing various durable, heatproof, acid-resistant glassware – and became a Japanese home staple for marinating vegetables and meats. This is why apart from producing medical experiment glassware, Koizumi Glass started to expand into glass products for everyday life. Case in point, this Minowa 2-Chome (三ノ輪２丁目) coffee pot.
