Matcha Bowl - Iga Oribe - Green Ash Glaze
A chawan (tea bowl) for matcha. Iga Oribe combines two classical Japanese ceramic traditions: the rustic, high-fired character of Iga stoneware with the copper-green glaze developed under tea master Furuta Oribe. The result is a dark olive-green upper body that fades into an earthy, iron-speckled lower section - a colour gradient produced naturally in the kiln.
- Dimensions: Ø115mm × H75mm
- Weight: 350g
- Material: Stoneware, Mino ware
- Origin: Made in Japan - Toki City, Gifu
- Hand wash only
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YAMAI POTTERY was established in 1967 in the Tsumagi district of Toki City, Gifu Prefecture, in the heartland of Mino ware production. The company's founder, Shinichi Ito, began his career manufacturing Shinto and Buddhist altar ceramics before founding Yamai and expanding into sake flasks, earthenware jars, and the full range of Mino glaze traditions. Today Yamai works across both classical and contemporary Mino styles - producing tea ceremony ware, tableware, and decorative pieces that draw on over 1,300 years of ceramic production in the Toki River basin. Their work is recognised under the official Toki Minoyaki brand designation. Toki City produces approximately 31% of all ceramics made in Japan - the largest single municipal share - within the broader Mino ware region which accounts for over half of Japan's total ceramic tableware production.
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Mino ware (美濃焼, Minoyaki) is the collective name for ceramics produced in the Tono region of Gifu Prefecture - principally Toki, Tajimi, Mizunami, and Kani - and is designated by the Japanese government as a traditional craft. With a production history stretching back over 1,300 years to Sue ware fired in the 7th century, it is today Japan's largest ceramic production region, accounting for over half of all ceramic tableware produced nationally.
What distinguishes Mino ware from other regional traditions is that it is defined by geography rather than a single style. Where Hagi ware or Bizen ware each have a recognisable aesthetic, Mino encompasses a remarkable range of glazes and techniques - among them Shino, Oribe, Kiseto, Setoguro, Hakeme, Kobiki, and Nezumi Shino - many of which were developed or refined here during the Momoyama period (1573–1603) under the influence of tea master Sen no Rikyu and military commander Furuta Oribe. It was Oribe's famously unconventional aesthetic - bold, asymmetrical, often deliberately imperfect - that gave Mino ware its creative licence, and that spirit of experimentation has continued across the centuries.
The region's productivity rests on two natural advantages: an abundance of high-quality pottery clay, particularly the kibushi and kaeru-me varieties, and reliable water from the Toki River. These conditions, combined with the accumulated knowledge of generations of kiln workers, are why Mino continues to produce ceramics at a scale and variety unmatched anywhere else in Japan.