Wada Kazufumi Premium Matcha Bowl - Kiseto / 和田和文作 抹茶碗 黄瀬戸

When we visited Wada Kazufumi(和田和文) at his kiln(桂山窯/Keizan Kiln) in Toki City, he told us something that has stayed with us.

Many ceramic artists working today are technically skilled, he said. Fewer compound their own glazes. Some simply purchase theirs ready-made — a convenience that, to his mind, removes the potter from the very heart of the craft. Ceramics, for Wada san, is not assembly. It is inquiry: into the clay, into the fire, into the materials that bridge the two. A maker who does not ask those questions themselves is, in his view, not really a ceramicist at all.

Keizan Kiln has worked from this philosophy for over a century. Founded in Toki City, Gifu Prefecture — at the centre of the Mino ware tradition — the kiln sits in the same landscape that gave rise to kiseto(黄瀬戸), shino(志野), and oribe(織部) during the Momoyama period. Wada Kazufumi, the fourth generation, inherited not just a kiln but a way of seeing.

The glaze he uses is ninety-three percent wood ash. Wood ash is fragile under heat: reach a certain temperature and it dissolves entirely, running slick down the vessel's side. The task is to bring it to that threshold — and stop. The margin is narrow. Often just few degrees and few minutes. Wada san reads the fire the way a seasoned sailor reads the sea: by the colour of the flame, the quality of the air, an intuition shaped by decades of daily practice. Temperature and heat distribution shift with the weather, with the season, with the particular character of each firing.

Of twenty bowls fired under the same conditions, perhaps one emerges as he intended. This is that bowl.

Its kiseto glaze is warm and softly matte, with areas of gentle brown scorching where the clay has met the flame at just the right intensity. Wada san calls these markings koge(焦げ) — evidence of the bowl's passage through the kiln. The surface carries subtle pinholes, quiet shifts of colour, and a depth that cannot be arrived at by formula.

In the hand, the bowl feels grounded and natural. The softened form, the slightly uneven rim, the weight of the clay — all of it contributes to the experience of holding it. It is made not only to be seen, but to be felt: through the fingers, the palm, and the act of preparing tea.

We are drawn to works that carry more than beauty. Pieces that reveal the maker's discipline, philosophy, and years of unseen labour. This bowl is exactly that — a rare meeting of material, fire, and human judgement, from a potter who has spent a lifetime learning to tell the difference.

■ Handmade in Japan

■ Not suitable for microwaves or dishwashers.

■ Material: Pottery

■ Size: 11.8 cm Diameter x 9cm height

■ Each purchase includes one matcha bowl in a box. Comes with a wooden box. Ideal as a gift.