Ichirun Tobo: Reading Glaze as Landscape in Miyazaki
The pieces from Ichirun Tobo always have a landscape settled into them. A landscape in blue, a landscape in green, the space between white and black, the afterglow of night. Where the glaze has run, where it has pooled dark, where it has thinned away. Seeing those as scenery is where this studio's work begins.
It is a studio run by a husband and wife in Miyazaki Prefecture. What they make is not ware for special days. It is the free cup you use every morning, and the guinomi (sake cup) you pour one measure into at night.
They carry no regional style on their backs. They learned in Tamba and set up on their own in Miyazaki. So there is no frame saying "Miyazaki ware is like this." The only standard is the landscape they have seen themselves.
At nokaze we hold pieces from Ichirun Tobo.
Learning in Tamba, Making in Miyazaki
Otsuki Kazuhito, who set up the studio, comes from Kyoto Prefecture. He studied ceramics in Tambasasayama in Hyogo Prefecture, the region of Tamba ware. It is one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan, a place that has fired natural-ash-glazed ware for eight hundred years. Four years there.
After that he moved to Miyazaki. It is not a ceramic region with a long history the way Tamba is. Which is also to say he chose a place with no regional rulebook. Today the two of them work in Miyazaki together.
In the studio's own words, this is the kind of ware they are aiming at.
"We make each piece carefully, one at a time, valuing how it feels in the hand and how naturally it settles into daily life. We hold on to the impressions we take from the scenery of nature and the turning of the seasons, aiming for ware that makes the hours of cooking and drinking a little richer."
That phrase, "a little richer," shows this studio's stance. They make mugs and sake ware that quietly improve the time when there is food and drink on the table, along with flower vases and much else that gives a table color.
Treating Glaze as Landscape
In Ichirun Tobo's work, the name of the piece tells you which landscape it holds.
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Landscape in Blue, Landscape in Green Not filled in with a single flat color; the glaze is laid so that depth and lightness remain. The glaze sits differently across one piece, so each carries a different character.
- Landscape in Line Glaze pools along the ridges carved by shinogi faceting, and you can enjoy the darkening and lightening of the lines themselves.
- Afterglow of Night, Sway of Black Black. A deep black whose expression changes with how the light falls, so you can enjoy that sway.
With all of them, there is no knowing what landscape will appear until the firing is done. Glaze is a different color when applied and when it comes out of the kiln. It melts and runs, pools, and where it is thin the clay beneath shows through. That is how each one-of-a-kind piece comes into being.
There are faceted pieces too. The technique shaves flat faces into the side of a form thrown round, and where the glaze lies thin on the corners of the faceting, the color changes just there. Form and color are decided at the same moment.
Ichirun Tobo by the Occasion
Miyazaki is shochu country. Both the guinomi and the free cups are made at a size you can pour something chilled into and hold in your hand as it is. Sake ware does not get in the way of a table, and it is the category where it is easiest to enjoy something purely for yourself. It is worth trying a style you would not usually buy.
A rice bowl in the space between white and black makes rice look white. Serve white rice in a black piece and the grains come out one by one.
Set a mug in a landscape of blue and green where the morning light falls, and the depth of the glaze seems to move.
The pieces do not assert themselves strongly, so mixing them with white ware or black ware still leaves a table coherent. These are pieces you can use without matching a set.
Caring for Ichirun Tobo Pieces
Ichirun Tobo works in pottery. Microwave and dishwasher are conditional, oven is not possible.
Reheating for a short time is no problem, but avoid heating straight from frozen. With the dishwasher too, hand washing rather than daily machine washing will make a piece last longer. Doing medome sealing when you first use it will keep oil stains from getting in.
Check how to care for it properly, and enjoy your own single piece for a long time.
Related Articles
Technique and Material
- Japanese Pottery Glazes: The Main Types Explained
- Shinogi: The Carved Ridges on Japanese Pottery
- Mentori: The Faceted Surfaces of Japanese Pottery
Region and Form
- Tamba Ware Guide: Japan's 800-Year Ash-Glazed Pottery
- Ochoko, Guinomi, Sakazuki: Japanese Sake Cups Compared
- Japanese Ceramic Mugs: Why Handmade Changes Your Coffee
Pieces from Ichirun Tobo
We hold work from Ichirun Tobo across a range of categories. Each is one of a kind, so even within the same series the glaze runs differently on every piece. If one catches your eye, take it in hand before it goes.
Browse the workShop the related pieces
Otsuki Kazuhito
21 pieces See all
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