Tatara-zukuri: Building Pottery from Clay Slabs
Tatara-zukuri is the technique of cutting clay into slabs of even thickness with a wire or thread, then assembling them into a form.
Cutting, bending, joining — closer to woodwork or paper craft. It produces flat planes, straight lines and corners the potter's wheel could never make: square plates, long plates, square bowls, flower containers with clearly defined faces. It is widely used in contemporary ceramics too.
Like tebineri, which forms by hand alone, it is a technique free of the constraint of the circle.
Where the name comes from
The name tatara is said to derive from the foot-operated bellows once used in traditional Japanese iron making. Those bellows, which fed air into the furnace to raise the heat, were called tatara.
The sight of craftspeople treading clay underfoot to spread it into thin slabs overlapped with the motion of pumping those bellows, and from there the name is said to have come (accounts vary).
Today the work uses tatara-ita, guide boards for slicing to an even thickness, and a slab roller for spreading clay flat.
What slab building does well
- Straight lines and edges Definite corners form in the outline, tightening the composition when food is placed on it. Square and long plates are this technique's own territory.
- Gentle curves Bending a slab over a mould lets flat planes and curves share one piece.
- Resistance to warping Because even thickness is a precondition, shrinkage during drying is straightforward. Even large flat plates resist warping — a practical advantage.
- Surface work At the slab stage, cloth or leaves can be pressed in for texture, or lines raised with icchin.
How to recognise it
| What to look at | Slab building | Wheel throwing |
|---|---|---|
| Form | Corners; wide flat planes | Circular |
| Inside | No throwing rings | Concentric ridges remain |
| Rim | An edge meets the finger | Rounded |
| Underside | Join lines can run straight | Spiral trimming on the foot ring (kodai) |
Related terms and guides
Related terms
- Rokuro: How a Pot Is Thrown on the Wheel
- Tebineri: Hand-Building Pottery Without a Wheel
- Mentori: The Faceted Surfaces of Japanese Pottery
- Icchin: Slip Trailing, the Raised Dot Technique
- Kodai (Foot Ring): The Part Collectors Check First
- Japanese Pottery Glossary | Terms, Techniques & Kilns
Read further
- How Japanese Pottery Is Shaped: Five Forming Methods
- Japanese Plates: Which Size and Shape for Which Dish
- Five Decorating Techniques on Japanese Pottery
Look at pottery with straight lines
Square plates, long plates, bowls with definite faces. Slab-built pottery tightens the composition of what you serve.
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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