Bizen Pottery

 Bizen Pottery is a type of pottery produced in and around Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture. Bizen ware is considered one of the six oldest kilns in Japan, and is positioned along with Shigaraki, Tanba, Echizen, Seto, and Tokoname (Tokoname) as kilns with a tradition that still remains.

Bizen ware is characterized by its unique production process that does not use glaze. Generally, glaze is applied to pottery to make it shiny and water-resistant, but Bizen ware does not use glaze, which gives it a rustic appearance without luster. Glaze is also used to add patterns, but because there is no glazing process, each piece will have a different pattern, and the charm of Bizen Pottery is that no two pieces will be the same.

The reason for not using glaze is the clay used in Bizen ware, called hiyose, which is found in the Bizen area. Hiyose is a clay that is more difficult to glaze than other clays. Bizen Pottery considered how to overcome this property of clay, and by firing the clay in a kiln for a long time without using it, it was greatly developed into a durable pottery.

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