Shigaraki

Shigaraki clay is coarse, with grit and feldspar mixed through it. When it fires, those particles surface as white specks, and that too is part of the Shigaraki landscape.

What sits here is the work of six makers based in Shigaraki. Ridges cut one blade-stroke at a time into half-dry clay. White slip over red clay, fired twice at low heat into a soft white. A blue that travels from deep to bright as the light moves across it. A generous bowl with the wheel marks left in. And a five-go rice pot that comes off the flame and goes straight to the table. The same clay from the same region gives all of this.

Shigaraki is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns and has been firing for around eight hundred years. Coarse clay tightens at high heat until it holds water on its own, so unglazed yakishime pieces are ready to use as they are. The carving technique is shinogi, and the angle and speed of the blade stay under your fingers. Most of the white pieces are kohiki, which slowly takes in tea and oil until the color settles. For how the region came to be, read Shigaraki ware.