Kasama ware (笠間焼) is pottery made in and around Kasama, a town in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It began in the An'ei era (安永年間 1772–1781) of the Edo period and was designated a Traditional Craft of Japan in 1992.
Kasama is home to some 300 potters and kilns, most of them individual studios, where each maker chooses their own clay, glazes, and firing. That is why Kasama ware has no fixed style you can recognize at a glance. Choosing a piece of Kasama ware means choosing its maker.
What is Kasama Ware?
Kasama is a town in central Ibaraki Prefecture, about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Just over the hills to the west lies the town of Mashiko, in Tochigi Prefecture. Kasama ware has been fired here for some 250 years, and in 1992 it was designated a Traditional Craft of Japan. In 2020, Kasama and Mashiko were also recognized together as a Japan Heritage story, "Kasamashiko."
Still, the name Kasama ware does not call up a single look. With many Japanese wares, the place name is the face of the pottery: think of the blue-and-white porcelain of Imari or the unglazed stoneware of Bizen. Kasama pottery is different. Walk through a Kasama gallery and every potter's work looks completely different. People even say that Kasama ware's defining feature is that it has none.
History 歴史: Everyday Pots for the Kitchens of Edo
Kasama ware dates back to the middle of the Edo period. In the An'ei era, Han'emon Kuno (久野半右衛門), the headman of Hakoda village, invited a Shigaraki potter named Choemon (長右衛門) and built a kiln. At first the pottery was called Hakoda ware, after the village. Under the protection of the Kasama domain, it produced everyday wares: storage jars and pots, suribachi grinding bowls, and earthenware teapots. Being close to Edo, today's Tokyo, also helped it reach more buyers.
In the closing years of the Edo period, potters who had learned in Kasama carried the craft to nearby areas, and one of them founded Mashiko ware just over the pass. After the Meiji Restoration, Kasama's kilns lost the domain's protection and declined for a time. In 1869, Tomosaburo Tanaka bought a kiln and greatly expanded its sales, and the name "Kasama ware" is said to date from around this time.
In the early twentieth century, however, as metal containers and other modern household goods spread, demand for storage jars and grinding bowls dwindled. From here, Kasama would change course.
Clay 土: An Iron-Rich Clay Born from Granite
The foundation of Kasama ware is, quite literally, its clay. Potters here mainly use two kinds: Kasama clay, a fine-grained, sticky clay dug locally, and gairome clay, formed from weathered granite. Gairome clay is rich in iron and turns brownish when fired. So Kasama potters have long poured and layered their glazes, laying the color of the glaze over the color of the clay. The fired ware is sturdy, well suited to kitchen pots used every day, such as water jars and tea storage jars.
Kasama is a granite town, too. Inada granite, quarried in the city's Inada district, is a white stone used in the National Diet Building and Tokyo Station. The clay in the pots and the stone in the buildings come from the same ground.
Glazes 釉: Eight Traditional Glazes, and Each Potter's Own Colors
Kasama ware has eight traditional glazes, specified as part of its Traditional Craft designation: kaki (persimmon), namijiro, kuro (black), aoji, ame (amber), nuka-jiro, namako, and irabo. The rust-red persimmon glaze is made mainly from Ashinuma stone, found in the Ashinuma area of Mashiko. Since the Meiji era, this stone has also been used in Kasama for persimmon and black glazes, giving the two pottery towns a color in common.
Today, though, many Kasama potters go beyond the traditional glazes, mixing their own to create colors that are theirs alone. Even a white glaze becomes an entirely different white in the hands of a different potter.
Why Kasama Ware Has No Fixed Style
The answer lies in the path Kasama chose after World War II. As demand for everyday wares dwindled, Kasama shifted from kitchen pottery to studio craft. In 1950, Ibaraki Prefecture opened a ceramics guidance center that began training potters, and in 1956 the Kasama Ware Cooperative was founded. By the early 1970s, the number of kilns had fallen to about 30. But Kasama built a ceramic art complex and a kiln park, welcomed potters from outside, and the town recovered. In 2016, the guidance center was reborn as the Kasama College of Ceramic Art, which still sends new potters out into the world.
The newcomers brought their own clays, glazes, and forms. Because the town had few old rules, every potter was free to develop a style of their own. Kosei Matsui, who mastered neriage, the art of kneading together clays of different colors, and was named a Living National Treasure in 1993, was also a Kasama potter: as head priest of Gessoji temple, he built his kiln on the temple grounds.
Kasama ware has no single style, but not because its tradition is thin. Its long practice of welcoming makers from outside and respecting each one's style is itself the tradition of Kasama ware.
How Kasama Ware is Made
Every potter's style is different, but the path from clay to finished piece is broadly the same.
- Dig the clay, mix it with water, and knead it into a workable body
- Wedge it in a spiral, chrysanthemum-shaped pattern (kiku-neri) to drive out air and even out its firmness
- Shape it on the wheel, in a mold, or by hand-building
- While the clay is still soft, add carved patterns or slip decoration
- Dry it slowly in the shade or the sun, since uneven drying causes cracks
- Bisque-fire at about 800°C (1,470°F) for 10 to 15 hours
- Paint underglaze designs in iron or gosu, a cobalt blue
- Apply the glaze by dipping or pouring
- Glaze-fire at about 1,250 to 1,300°C (2,280 to 2,370°F) for about 20 hours
- Finish the foot and check for cracks and flaws
How to Choose Kasama Ware: Choosing a Piece Means Choosing Its Maker
With no single style, the key to choosing Kasama ware is not what Kasama ware is supposed to look like, but who made it. When a piece catches your eye, look first at who made it. Once you know the maker's name, you can follow their other work, and the clays and glazes they like to use. The seal stamped on the foot of a piece is that maker's mark.
Handmade pottery varies from piece to piece. Even in the same shape by the same potter, the way the glaze runs and the result of the firing are different every time. Size and weight vary a little, too, so check the dimensions and weight, not just the photos, and you will have fewer surprises when your piece arrives.
Where to See and Buy Kasama Ware
To meet Kasama ware in Kasama itself, start at Kasama Art Forest Park. The park is home to the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, the Kasama College of Ceramic Art, and Kasama Craft Hills. Kasama Craft Hills has a shop that gathers work by Kasama potters and a café, and with a reservation you can try the potter's wheel or hand-building (open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Mondays, or the following day when Monday is a holiday).
During Golden Week, Japan's run of spring holidays, the Kasama Himatsuri pottery festival brings together more than 200 potters and kilns. In autumn, Kasama Craft Hills hosts Pottery and Living (To to Kurashi). From Tokyo, the Kanto Yakimono Liner bus from Akihabara takes about 1 hour 40 minutes.