Karatsu artisan bowl with high sides

Yamashita-san's philosophy

Click on the play button to view the interview with Yamashita-san (2 min 17 sec).

Yamashita-san discovered and learned pottery thanks to his father-in-law, a researcher at a ceramics research institute. 

He has been perfecting his art for over 30 years.

When he makes his pottery, he clears his mind and focuses on his labour. He says he thinks about nothing at all.

He likes his creations to be used in everyday life, and he considers pottery to be everyday objects. He does his utmost to make his prices affordable for the sole purpose of having his bowls used in our daily lives.

 Yamashita-san's bowls may have reasonable prices, but they are all handmade by him, using traditional local clay and glaze.

I was won over by his philosophy, and I am very proud that he is one of our artisan partners. 

Above, I pose with Yamashita-san during our second meeting in May 2019.

Demonstration: making a matcha tea bowl

In this video, Yamashita-san shows us how he uses his fresh clay to form a matcha bowl with his hands.

Click on the play button to view the video (4 min).

He then shows us in detail all the stages of production, from the clay to the final bowl.

Click on the play button to view the video (5 min)

• He extracts clay near his workshop and cleans it by diluting it in water to remove stones and impurities, then dries it.
• Kneading: Yamashita-san kneads the dough to remove air bubbles from the clay and make it homogeneous.
• pottery wheel throwing
• turning: he leaves the bowl to dry for a day, then turns it over and shapes the base of the bowl.
• First firing: he fires the bowl at 800ºC for about 8 hours. The size of the bowl decreases by 20%.
• Glaze: mixture of crushed straw ash, charcoal, and feldspar. Yamashita-san dips the pottery in the mixture.
• Enamel firing: Yamashita-san's kiln requires another 7 hours of firing at 1260ºC. 

Yamashita-san makes the glaze for his pottery himself.

Click on the play button to view the video (1 min 51 sec)

For the final step, there are two ways to bake the enamel: 

• Oxidative baking: oxygen is allowed to enter the oven. 
• Reductive firing: oxygen is not allowed to enter the kiln, and the flames draw oxygen from inside the enamel, changing its chemical properties and appearance. 

The oven temperature is 1260ºC during the glaze firing process.

History of Karatsu pottery

Karatsu is a port city located on the island of Kyushu, in the southernmost part of Japan.

Due to its geographical location, Karatsu has been in contact with China and the Korean peninsula since ancient times. It was thanks to this external influence that Karatsu became the first region in Japan to produce bowls with a glossy glaze.

Karatsu pottery (唐津焼, karatsu-yaki) became famous throughout Japan in a very short time. 

At the end of the 16th century, Karatsu matcha tea bowls were recognised by the great tea masters as one of the three predominant styles of bowls, along with Raku pottery (楽焼, raku-yaki) and Hagi pottery (萩焼, hagi-yaki).

When I asked Yamashita-san if he planned to pass on his art to his children, he replied that he would not, because his clay vein was sold out.

He showed me this photo and said, "I have enough to do until I retire, and then it will be over":

The keys to Japanese aesthetics

As Yamashita-san explains, there is a large element of chance in his creations. 

When he fires the glaze on his bowls, for example, the result can vary depending on the bowl's position inside the kiln due to heat variations. 

Of course, he doesn't control how the enamel flows either.

It's a conscious decision to keep this element of surprise, and for me, that's what really makes Japanese pottery so charming. Not everything is calibrated like in industrial production.

The slight irregularities in each bowl give them a different character and personality. 

⚠️ Tips for use by Yamashita-san:

• Before using for the first time, I recommend soaking your bowl in water with 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour for 5 hours. The starch in the flour will act as an extra coating to protect your bowl.
• The appearance of your bowl will change over time: it will crack and develop a patina. Take good care of it and it will become even more beautiful and unique. 

The final result

This bowl, gray with green highlights, with a shiny, speckled glaze, is elegant and minimalist.

I love the details: the base, which is not glazed, is rough and has an earth colour.

My favorite little detail is the bottom of the bowl in the middle: Yamashita-san designed a swirl shape that collects the suspended matcha tea and offers a final sip that is a little more concentrated and very pleasant.

I hope you enjoy tasting your daily matcha in this artisan bowl from Karatsu.

I am very happy and proud to present this bowl by Yamashita-san, which is very affordable for a craft of this quality.

This is a new shape with high sides, very practical for whisking matcha. The colours differ slightly from one series to another, so if you like this bowl and want to make it yours, I advise you to order it because we only have a few pieces left in this series.

On behalf of Yamashita-san and myself, we wish you an excellent tasting experience!

Differences between Japanese and Western pottery

First of all, the material is different: while we use a mixture of soils (clay, marl, silica), most Japanese potters use only clay.

Since we hold the bowls in our hands to admire them before bringing them to our mouths for tasting the matcha tea, great attention is paid to the texture of the bowl and how it transmits heat.

Another very different element is that in the West, we often use a set of identical cups, whereas in Japan, we may have many different cups. Originally, in the tea ceremony, it was the host's responsibility to choose a selection of cups that went well together to please their guests.

Finally, the Japanese find beauty in the "accidental" distortions and irregularities of pottery and its glaze. Wear and tear rounds the edges of bowls and embellishes them. This is the concept of wabi-sabi.

Preparing matcha tea

When preparing matcha tea, leave most of the bowl empty to admire the colour of the matcha and the reflections of the enamel. Note the texture and reflections of the matcha.

The bottom of the bowl is flat and its capacity is particularly suitable for preparing 80-100mL.