also: へっつい
noun
kamado; traditional Japanese cook stove
A traditional wood or charcoal-fueled stove, often built into the kitchen floor. Now mostly historical or rural, but the term is still used in cultural contexts.
祖母の家にはまだ古いかまどが残っている。
My grandmother's house still has an old kamado stove.
かまどで炊いたご飯は格別だ。
Rice cooked on a kamado is exceptional.
noun
Metonymic use: the stove as the center of the home, referring to the household or family unit. Often used in expressions like かまどを分ける (to set up a separate household).
息子は結婚してかまどを分けた。
My son got married and set up his own household.
同じかまどの飯を食った仲だ。
We're like family; we've eaten from the same pot.
Variant kanji; even less common than 竈.
Katakana form sometimes used in technical or stylistic contexts; not a common spelling.
Dialectal or old-fashioned reading; not standard in modern Japanese.
Traditional kanji; rarely used in modern writing.
The origin is uncertain. The reading かまど may be related to 釜 (kama, 'pot') and 所 (to, 'place'), but this is not firmly established. The dialectal reading へっつい is of unclear derivation.