Banko-yaki Tea Cup - Ink Pattern

This tea cup is expertly made in the style of Banko-yaki, a type of Japanese pottery produced in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture. Its surface is smooth and glossy and decorated with intricate patterns created with a technique known as sumi kan’nyū. Kan’nyū refers to a phenomenon called crazing, whereby fine cracks appear on the surface of the glaze, influenced by a number of different factors such as sudden temperature changes after firing. Sumi kan’nyū involves permeating ink (sumi) into these cracks, which produces one-of-a-kind patterns.

Chūbu

The central Chūbu region is predominantly mountainous, home to the rugged Japan Alps with coasts on both the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. The region's history has been shaped by its strategic position between the great cities of Kyoto and Tokyo with Nagoya at its heart. Niigata lies to the north while Mt Fuji can be found in the south in Shizuoka Prefecture.