Aizu

Aizu Hongo is the oldest pottery town in northern Japan. For four hundred years it has made pieces suited to life in deep snow country.

What sits here comes from Kinone kobo in Aizu Hongo. Thick enough to set on the table without a second thought, and weighted to settle into the hand. Some under an amber glaze, some in white slip, some with a line drawn in cobalt. These are not chosen for show. They are the pieces you reach for morning and night, and after a while they end up at the front of the shelf without anyone deciding it.

The signature form of Aizu Hongo is the nishin bowl, made for pickling dried herring. It is a clear case of a shape born from need becoming a style. The amber comes from an iron-bearing glaze that deepens or lightens with the firing. The white pieces are kohiki, white slip over red clay, so the body underneath shows faintly near the rim. To place the region on the map, see the guide to Japan's pottery regions.