Tobe Porcelain Sake Cup - Karakusa

Tobe-yaki, a famous style of white porcelain made in Tobe, Ehime Prefecture has been produced since 1775. This sake cup was made in one of the oldest kilns in Tobe, Baizangama. To produce the porcelain, clay bodies are first formed by hand by expert potters then air-dried for several days before initial bisque firing at temperatures over 900 degrees Celsius in a noborigama, (a ‘climbing kiln’) built with large, heat-resistant bricks, that slightly expand when heated. Once the porcelain has cooled, its blue patterns are made with an underglaze method using gosu, an indigo blue pigment made of a mixture of cobalt oxide and other components. The pigment is then covered in a transparent glaze and fired again at over 1200 degrees Celsius. Tobe-yaki has been highly praised by Yanagi Sōetsu, the founder of the Mingei (folk craft) movement in Japan, as well as famous potters such as Hamada Shōji, for its utilitarian beauty and characteristic handpainted decorations. These patterns are drawn using a technique called tsuketate-kaki (contourless drawing) which does not begin with outlining, and where each brush stroke creates its own thickness of painted line.

Not microwave or dishwasher safe.

Size: H4.5 cm x Ø6 cm

Kyūshū and Okinawa

This is Japan’s south-west region including the island of Kyūshū and the sub-tropical island chain of Okinawa. Kyūshū was an early centre of Japanese civilization, and offers many historic treasures, modern cities and volcanic natural beauty. It is home to the ports of Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Fukuoka, the porcelain manufacturing centre in Arita and the Tanegashima Space Center launch site.