Yakishime tea bowl (Tamba clay)

What only fire can decide — a tea bowl born from the ancient clay of Tamba

This tea bowl is the work of Yukitaka Hatsuda, a ceramicist whose entire practice is built around a single, unwavering conviction: let the earth and the fire speak for themselves.

Hatsuda works with the great historic clays of Japan — Shigaraki, Iga, Echizen, Tamba — not out of habit, but out of curiosity and discipline. Each clay carries its own character: its density, its colour, its particular way of responding to fire. Rather than imposing a glaze, he chooses the path of yakishime — firing without glaze — and entrusts the wood ash and the flames with the creation of the surface. What the Japanese call shizen-yu: natural glaze, born solely from the dialogue between earth, wood, and fire.

This philosophy runs through his entire body of work. It is embodied here in a bowl made from the clay of Tamba — one of Japan's six great historic kiln traditions, with roots stretching back to the twelfth century — darker and denser than Shigaraki clay, lending this piece a quality of gathered calm.

Hatsuda fires his work in his own anagama pit kiln, located in Kasatori, Kyoto Prefecture — set apart from the world, in a natural setting that invites stillness and deep attention to the material. For several days, temperatures exceeding 1,300 °C consume load after load of wood. The ash carried by the flames settles on the bowl's surface, melts, and vitrifies into a natural glaze with a soft, pearlescent sheen. Traces of flame, reddish highlights, and areas of charring mark the surface — not as flaws, but as the living signatures of fire.

Each piece is one of a kind: no flame ever travels the same path twice.

The bowl sits naturally in the palm. It is made for tea — matcha or everyday — but will serve equally well for soup, or simply for the quiet of a morning.

Note on anagama firing: Because the clay is raw and unsifted — rich in particles and small stones — slight porosity may remain after firing. Each piece has been checked after treatment, but minor water seepage may reappear with use. If this occurs, a small amount of instant adhesive applied at the precise point of leakage is sufficient.

Dimensions: W 10.7 cm × D 9 cm × H 12 cm
Material: Ceramic — Tamba clay, yakishime firing in anagama pit kiln at Kasatori, Kyoto Prefecture
Artist: Yukitaka Hatsuda
Shipped from Kyoto, Japan