Bizen Ware Mug, Meikama Kiln

At a glance

- Bizen yaki (備前焼) stoneware, Yumegenkobo, Santen Kiln, Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture; unglazed, one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns, tracing back to the late Heian period (roughly the late 11th to late 12th century)
- Fired in an anagama (穴窯), a tunnel kiln, burning red pine for several days; the kiln, not the potter, decides the final colour and marking, so no two mugs are ever the same
- Approx. 7.5 x 10cm, 250ml

No two of these will ever exist twice. Every streak of rust, every patch of grey where the ash settled thick, is decided somewhere inside a wood burning kiln over several days, not at a painter's table, which means the potter who made this mug has never actually seen it finished until the fire lets it go.

This comes from Yumegenkobo at Santen Kiln, in Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture, fired in a genuine anagama (穴窯), a tunnel kiln rebuilt specifically to bring back the romance of Momoyama era (1573 to 1600) yakishime (焼締め), the unglazed, high fired stoneware Bizen was once famous for across the whole country. The kiln burns red pine for fuel, and it is that combination, clay, pine ash, and days of sustained heat, that paints the surface: no glaze, no brush, just flame finding its own way around each piece. Bizen's roots run further back still, to potters working near Ibe at the end of the Heian period, roughly the late 11th to late 12th century, making this one of Japan's oldest continuously worked ceramic traditions.

Yumegenkobo's own stated aim is to keep pursuing the dream and vision of Bizen indefinitely, and the mug itself is left plain by design, so the fire's work stays the only decoration it needs.

At 250ml, it holds a proper mug's worth of coffee or tea.