Hidasuki: The Red Straw Marks on Bizen Pottery
Hidasuki is the vivid scarlet line pattern that symbolises Bizen ware.
Rice straw is wrapped around the piece before firing, and in the flame its components react with the iron-rich clay, leaving scarlet sash-like lines across the pale unglazed surface.
It is a fire-color effect particular to yakishime, and the contrast of that red against the quiet ground of the clay is highly prized.
Why is hidasuki red when no paint is used?
The lines of hidasuki were not drawn by anyone with a brush. They are the trace of a chemical reaction that happened naturally inside the kiln.
Rice straw contains alkali and salts. Above 1,200°C, where these meet the iron-rich clay of Bizen, oxidation advances just at those points and the color comes out a vivid red. Wherever the straw touched becomes, exactly, the pattern.
Its origin is said to be practical: straw was placed between pieces stacked for firing to stop them fusing together. A device for utility turned, at some point, into an effect deliberately sought.
The main scenery of Bizen
| Effect | How it forms | How it looks |
|---|---|---|
| Hidasuki | Straw wrapped before firing | Scarlet lines running across a pale ground |
| Goma (sesame) | Wood ash falling thinly | Yellow-brown grains as if sesame were sprinkled |
| Sangiri | Buried in ash, starved of oxygen | Shifting from blue-grey to black |
| Botamochi | Traces left where pieces were stacked | Round areas where the color drops out |
All arise naturally inside the kilns of Bizen ware. How to read them is set out in our article on keshiki.
Which hidasuki piece should you choose?
Hidasuki changes expression according to which face the straw touched. Lines crossing the centre, lines running along the rim, lines crossing into a net. Even from the same maker in the same kiln, no two pieces carry the same lines.
Because red shows against a pale whitish ground, food served on it stands out well. It is unglazed, so doing medome at the start makes staining less likely.
Related terms and guides
Related terms
- Yakishime: Unglazed Pottery Fired to Its Limit
- Shizen-yu: Natural Ash Glaze Explained
- Bidoro: The Glass-Green Drips on Bizen Pottery
- Anagama: Inside Japan's Oldest Wood-Fired Kiln
- Medome: How to Seal Unglazed Pottery Before First Use
- Japanese Pottery Glossary | Terms, Techniques & Kilns
Read further
- Bizen Ware: Pottery With No Glaze at All
- Keshiki: How to Read the 'Landscape' on a Pot
- Bizen vs Hagi: Two Opposite Ideas of Wabi-Sabi
- Yohen: When the Kiln Decides the Colour
Pieces available at Nokaze
Look at the lines straw left
Where the straw touched changes how the lines run. Nokaze introduces Bizen and other unglazed stoneware.
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New to Japanese pottery? Start here — its history, how pottery differs from porcelain, the clays and glazes behind each style, and how to care for a piece. → Japanese Pottery: The Complete Guide