Hakuji (White Porcelain): Clear Glaze Over a Pure White Body

View this piece

Hakuji (white porcelain) is a white porcelain body covered in a clear glaze and fired at a high temperature. It carries no painting or color, and shows the whiteness of the body itself.

Porcelain is made from a white clay of crushed porcelain stone and fired hard at around 1,300°C. The clay vitrifies almost like glass, so it absorbs almost no water, is strong even when thin, and lets light through faintly at the rim. Cover this white body with a clear glaze, and you have hakuji.

In Japan, porcelain began to be made in Arita, Saga Prefecture, in the early seventeenth century, and white porcelain spread from there. Today it is made by many regions and artisans, including Arita, Mino in Gifu Prefecture and Kyoto.

Hakuji and Other White Pottery

There are several kinds of white pottery besides hakuji. It is easiest to tell them apart by whether the body is porcelain or stoneware, and whether the white comes from the clay or the glaze.

Shadow Carved Into White: Fujimura Kasumi's Hakuji

Fujimura Kasumi, who works in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, makes pure white pottery with the idea that it should "suit any kind of food." The photo below shows a 7-sun hand-carved plate: the rim is cut like petals, and lines carved outward from the center cast soft shadows across the white. Precisely because white porcelain has no painting or color, every carved line becomes part of its face as it catches the light.

More from Fujimura Kasumi

In the same white porcelain, Fujimura also makes vases with vertical carving (at the back right of the photo at the top) and chopstick rests. With a single branch or wildflower in the vase, shadows fall across the white and the color and shape of the flower stand out. "Stay close to people's daily lives, and be used freely and often" is the wish shared by all of Fujimura's pieces.

White Porcelain With Raised Patterns: Jiucasca, Maeda Asami's Pottery

In Kyoto, Maeda Asami also works with a porcelain body. Maeda raises patterns with icchin (drawing lines by squeezing slip from a dropper) and relief, finishing pieces as fresh, translucent white porcelain. On seihakuji plates with a bluish glaze, pale blue pools in the valleys of the pattern, so the relief itself becomes light and shade. The technique and the artisan's story are covered in our artisan profile of Maeda Asami.

Choosing and Using Hakuji

• To show off the color of food　The white of hakuji shows the green of vegetables, the red of tomatoes and the browning of grilled food most honestly. For a first piece, a 5- to 7-sun plate that comes out often is easy to use
• If plain white feels too simple　Choose hakuji with carving or relief, and light and shadow give it a face even on days without food
• Pairing with other pottery　Hakuji sits easily beside patterned pieces and earthy stoneware. It brings the whole table together

Hakuji absorbs almost no water, so care is simple: wash and dry. Wash carved or raised grooves with a soft sponge. Whether a piece can go in the microwave or dishwasher depends on the piece, so check the description on each product page. Care for Japanese pottery in general is covered in caring for Japanese ceramics.

Related Articles and Terms

Getting to Know White Pottery

• Japanese Porcelain: Made from Stone, Not Clay
• Seihakuji: White Porcelain Where Blue Pools in the Carving
• Kohiki Pottery: The White Slip Technique, Explained
• Stoneware vs Porcelain: How to Tell Them Apart

Regions and Artisans

• Arita Ware: Japan's First Porcelain, 400 Years On
• Mino Ware Guide: Oribe, Shino and Japan's Biggest Kiln
• Artisan Maeda Asami | Japanese Porcelain Patterned in Relief, Not Paint