Tokoname Ware

This jar bears three levels of transverse parallel lines enclosing the form from the shoulder to the trunk, for which reason it is categorized as a sankinko ("jar with three lines"). Jars of this type were fired frequently in the late Heian period. They have been found in many Esoteric Buddhist temples and sutra mounds, suggesting their deep significance for religious activities during the Heian period. At the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185–1333), however, production of sankinko quickly ceased.

Once owned by the great tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522–1591), the Fushiki water jar occupies an extremely significant place in the history of Tokoname tea ceramics. Rikyu wrote about it in his Rikyu Hyakukaiki (Record of Rikyu's Hundred Tea Gatherings), a text illuminating the tea ceremony in his age, and he titled this water jar “bakemono” (phantom). It is said that Sen Sōtan (1578－1658), a successor of Rikyu, later named it “fushiki” (the unknown), thinking it resembled the image of Daruma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. For the anonymous potter who created the jar, would have been unimaginable that such renowned tea masters had revered it.

Over the course of its 900 long years of history, the main products of Tokoname’s ceramics industry—from storage pots and pipes to architectural ceramics—varied along with the times. During the Meiji and Showa eras, Tokoname was called the “ceramic pipe city.” Walking through the city, one can see ceramic pipes and shochu bottles used as retaining walls. The prosperity of previous eras is thus discernable today.

It is said that the first kyūsu (small teapots with side handles) were made in Tokoname during the latter part of the Edo period, specifically the Bunka-Bunsei period (approx. 1804-1830). In the Bakamatsu period, Sugie Jumon（1827－1897) became a popular producer of shudei kyūsu, teapots with unglazed burnished red clay surfaces. It is widely thought that all Tokoname kyūsu are shudei kyūsu, but this is actually a postwar notion. Living National Treasure Yamada Jōzan III（1924－2005）faithfully inherited the traditions of previous generations while incorporating a modern, individualistic style. Yamada’s work inspired a rapid increase in the contemporary appreciation of Tokoname kyūsu throughout Japan.

In addition to creating teapots, Shimizu has devoted himself to educating the next generation of Tokoname potters. He is known for passionately speaking of the distinctive characteristics of a Tokoname teapot, which he says are “a lightness when held,” “good pouring quality of the spout” and “a surface sheen when used for a long time.”