Shigaraki-yaki
PotteryKansai
National Traditional Craft
Price range
¥1,000 ~ ¥100,000
Rustic stoneware from Shiga Prefecture, famous for tanuki raccoon dog statues.
Shigaraki-yaki, another of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns, has been produced in Shiga Prefecture since the Kamakura period (13th century). Its coarse, sandy clay fires to a warm reddish-brown with natural ash glaze creating a rough, earthy texture prized in wabi-cha tea ceremony aesthetics. Today Shigaraki is also famous for its tanuki (raccoon dog) statues, seen outside shops and restaurants across Japan as symbols of good fortune.
Materials
Shigaraki clay, feldspar
Techniques
Coil building, wood firing