Japanese Pottery - History, Styles & Aesthetics

The Japanese language has many words for different kinds of pottery and words related to ceramics and the tea ceremony (because pottery is so strongly intertwined with the tea ceremony). Here are a few important ones.

cha: tea
chadô: the way of tea
chaire: tea caddy for holding powdered tea (matcha)
chanoyu: the tea ceremony
chatô: tea ceramics
chawan: tea bowl
choko: a small sake cup
guinomi: sake cup
hanaire: flower vase
jiki: porcelain
kyusu: teapot
matcha: powdered green tea used in the tea ceremony
mizusashi: water jar; a lidded fresh water container used in the tea ceremony
rokuro: potter's wheel
sake: a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice; this term also refers to alcoholic beverages in general
sara: plate
sencha: steeped tea
shibui (adjective), shibumi (noun), or shibusa (noun): (From Wikipedia) "Japanese words which refer to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty." These words can apply to anything, not just ceramics.
tamba: Japanese ceramics
tokkuri: bottle or flask, usually for sake
tsubo: storage jar
wabi sabi: even if it isn't perfect, it is still beautiful, not a ruined piece. This applies to many things, not just ceramics.
yakimono: pottery, or "fired thing"
yunomi: tea cup

If you want to know more, see this more extensive list of Japanese ceramic terms

The Jomaon period is the earliest in Japanese pottery history. Jomon literally means "cord design" in Japanese. These earthenware pots were made with a coil technique, and the surface texture was created by wrapping straw cords and twine around the wet pottery and paddling the surface with a stick, leaving the cord impressions. The earliest Jomon pottery had conical bottoms and did not stand upright. Earthenware figures called Dogu were also made during the Jomon period.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

The Yayoi Period of Japan was named after Yayoi-cho, Tokyo, where pottery from that time was first discovered in 1884. Like Jomon ware, Yayoi is earthenware. It was likely influenced by Joman pottery, but was made with finer grained clay allowing it to have thinner walls. It was often decorated with a comb pattern.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Seto pottery originated in the middle ages. The six old kilns in the vicinity of Seto are Bizen, Echizen, Seto, Shigaraki, Tanba and Tokoname. These kilns, built up seep mountainsides, produced stoneware pottery. Most of these six old kilns (all but Seto) produced an unglazed, vitrified stoneware pottery, first used a ceremonial vessles for Shinto and Buddhist monks, and later used as everydayware for common farmers. Unlike the unglazed five, Seto pottery is known for its ash glaze.

Image: Wikimedia Commons / KAMUI

One of the beautiful things about Japanese pottery comes from the unpredictable nature of the firing process. This unglazed piece has markings on it from the firing process that were not designed or predicted. Instead, the potters let the fire leave the marks that it would. In many cases the results are more aesthetically pleasing than a planned design.

Image: Wikimedia Commons / ReijiYamashina
Shigaraki ware Jar, 16th century, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics Osaka, OSAKA, Japan

The high-fired ware of Mino developed after Old Seto, and was produced in both the Seto and Mino Regions of Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The four Mino ware styles are Shino, Oribe, Ki-Seto (Yellow Seto) and Setoguro (Black Seto). Almost all Mino ware is related to the tea ceremony.

Shino is one of my favorite types of Japanese pottery and one of my favorite glazes to use on my own pottery. It is usually a white or gray glaze often with rust colored highlights and an orange peel textured surface called citrine skin. Shino ware was mostly used for tea and water vessels in the tea ceremony. The Image here is a shino sake cup. The intro image at the top of this page is a shino tea bowl. Traditionally, Shino ware is hand built, not thrown on the wheel. These pieces often have designs painted in iron oxide which contrast nicely with the glaze.

Image: Wikimedia Commons / DavidEarlYoung

The distinctive Oribe style has geometric designs depicting animals, birds, flowers, and every day objects such as fences and tools painted in dark green on a white background. The pieces are typically angular in form. Oribe ware was traditionally used for food, some pieces intended for for food eaten during the tea ceremony, while other pieces were used for everyday eating.

Image: Wikimedia Commons / BrokenSphere

Porcelain was sought after world wide in the 1600s, mainly due to the porcelain ware from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), China's golden age of ceramics. Japan desired to make such porcelain as well, but the wares came to Japan from Korea rather than China. Korean potters introduced Yi Dynasty porcelain to Japan, although the Japanese production was heavily influenced by Ming Porcelain. Many of stoneware kilns were converted for commercial porcelain production.

Porcelain clay was discovered in Arita, which became the center of Japanese porcelain production. Porcelain produced at Arita is called Imari Ware.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Japanese dinnerware differs from western dinnerware in its variety of form and color. It has a freedom of form not seen in western designs, which are typically uniform, a canvas on which to paint pre-described designs. In Japanese pottery, there is an element of imperfection that is cherished. What might be considered flaws in the work actually become the front of the piece. They are valued because they make the piece unique and reflect the process of their creation (word for this) such as the potters fingerprints from where he gripped the piece while dipping it in glaze. other cherished flaws are places where a broken shard from another piece adheres to the surface from the explosion of another piece in the kiln.

In most countries, porcelain has a higher status than other tableware. In Japan, earthenware, stoneware and porcelain are used in the same table setting, and all are of equal status. Takashi Nakazato says it well in the documentary, Bridge of Fire, "In the case of the Japanese meal, I thnk it must have come frome the tea ceremony, one uses a variety of vessels on the same table. Eartheneare, stoneware and porcelain sit at the same level. The shapes and colors can be very different -- tall vessels, low ones, black ones, a great variety -- so it is never boring. This is what is wonderful about Japanese tableware."

Tea is an important Important part of Japan's culture and its ceramics. The way of tea (chadô) along with tea ceramics (chatô) developed in Japan with influences from China and Korea. Many types of pottery are made exclusively for drinking tea, both in the tea ceremony and for everyday use.

Japanese Woodblock, Tea Ceremony
18 in. x 12 in.
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Japan has thousands of professional potters today. Some work closely in line with the old styles, others work on projects that are more radical and divergent from traditional styles. Most of these new innovative works will be forgotten in seveal years but, as with any form of art, greatness only comes with innovation. Most Contemporary Japanese potters base their work on traditional styles but also have their own styles that mesh with the traditional. Several of Japan's contemporary potters are living national treasures.

Japanese Pottery Worker Painting Large Vase
Kessel, Dmitri
12 in. x 16 in.
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Japanese ceramics have inspired modern non-Japanese potters to develop glazes based on the traditional Japanese pottery styles. In my experience, shino is by far the most replicated of the the Japanese glazes. Other popular glazes are oribe, celadon and tenmoku. The sake cup by Kamada Koji pictured here is an example of tenmoku glaze with cobalt in it creating the blue highlights.

Wikimedia Commons / EdgarDurbin

Raku is named after the Japanese word that loosely means "enjoyment" or "pleasure." The closest word to "raku" in the English language is "serendipity," so a better definition may be "a fortunate occurrence."

Traditionally, raku is a lead glazed, low-fired ware used for the tea ceremony. The raku technique has been highly modernized and is practiced by potters world wide. The potter removes pieces from the special raku kiln while they are still red hot and places them in a pile of combustible materials. After the combustibles burst into flame, the pieces are then covered with a metal container to create a reducing environment. Special raku glazes and the unique firing process combine to create the distinctive raku glaze finishes.

Image: Wikimedia Commons / Cory Scott

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