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.