Kyoto/kiyomizu ware - Takumi Japan Online

About Kyoto/kiyomizu ware

From the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573-1603) to the early Edo period (1603-1868), when tea ceremony utensils became popular, merchants brought artisans of Seto ware, Mino ware, Karatsu ware, etc. to Kyoto and began to produce ceramics that incorporated techniques and expressions from various regions.
●Designated as a Traditional Craft of Japan in 1977

Techniques and developments

The origin of Kyoto/kiyomizu ware, which is characterized by delicate and graceful color paintings that are still popular today, is the color-painted pottery by one of the master craftsmen of the time, Ninsei Nonomura, a potter from Tanba. Later on, Kyoto/kiyomizu ware succeeded in firing porcelain, and in the Meiji period (1868-1912), when the German artisan Wagner was invited to Japan, foreign techniques were introduced, leading to further development of Kyoto/kiyomizu ware.

Kyoto/kiyomizu ware today

Kyoto/kiyomizu ware has developed by sublimating various techniques from various regions, thus there are no fixed rules for techniques or expressions. Each creator has his or her own unique style of pottery, mainly in the form of overglaze painting.