Noborigama: The Climbing Kiln, Chamber by Chamber
A noborigama is a wood kiln whose firing chambers are linked in steps along a hillside. Flame and heat from the firemouth at the bottom pass upward from chamber to chamber like a relay.
Because each chamber inherits the heat of the one below, fuel efficiency is very high and a single firing can fire a great quantity. It is still used in Bizen, Shigaraki and Hagi ware.
It is the evolved form of the single-chamber anagama, and it spread across Japan from the 17th century onward.
Firing differently in each chamber
Each chamber has stoking ports in its side walls. Being able to adjust temperature chamber by chamber means being able to fire different kinds of work in each.
The lowest chamber is slow to rise; the upper chambers inherit heat and run hot. Using that difference, stoneware went in the lower chambers and porcelain in the upper. The industrial efficiency of firing hundreds or thousands of pieces at once comes from this structure.
But as efficiency rises, ash and flame strike the work more gently than in an anagama. That is why makers who want to bring out the fullest scenery of natural ash glaze still choose an anagama.
Wood kilns against electric and gas
| Aspect | Wood kiln (noborigama, anagama) | Electric or gas kiln |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature control | Adjusted by a person feeding wood | Set and held precisely |
| Result | Different every piece; highly accidental | Even and stable; comes out as intended |
| Effect of ash | Ash falls, giving natural glaze and scorching | No ash |
| Firing time | Several days to over a week | One to two days |
Ceramics calls this hard-to-repeat, singular expression keshiki, scenery. For more see our article on keshiki.
The scenery a climbing kiln makes
- Natural ash glaze Scattered wood ash melting at high temperature into a natural glassy layer on the surface.
- Hiiro (fire color) The beautiful gradation from red to black between areas the flame struck and areas in shadow.
- Scorching and carbonisation Deep black patterning where ash or charcoal adhered, or where the piece fired with little oxygen.
- yohen The general term for accidental change caused by unpredicted movements of flame and ash.
Related terms and guides
Related terms
- Anagama: Inside Japan's Oldest Wood-Fired Kiln
- Shizen-yu: Natural Ash Glaze Explained
- Bidoro: The Glass-Green Drips on Bizen Pottery
- Yakishime: Unglazed Pottery Fired to Its Limit
- Ichigo Ichie: One Encounter, Once in a Lifetime
- Japanese Pottery Glossary | Terms, Techniques & Kilns
Read further
- Anagama vs Noborigama: Japanese Wood Kilns Compared
- Yohen: When the Kiln Decides the Colour
- Keshiki: How to Read the 'Landscape' on a Pot
- Japan's Six Ancient Kilns: All 6 Regions Compared
Look at wood-fired pottery
Color and sheen change with where a piece stood in the chamber. Nokaze introduces wood-fired pottery together with the background of its makers.
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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