Tōge no Kamameshi
Mashiko ware and ceramics
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Japan's pottery towns: a guide to the main kiln regions
Japan's kiln regions in three groups: the Six Ancient Kilns, the porcelain towns that followed Arita, and later pottery towns such as Mashiko. What marks each ware. -
What is Mashiko ware? The pottery behind the kamameshi pot
Mashiko ware is pottery from Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture, made since about 1853. Its kitchen jars and teapots, its three glazes, Hamada Shōji, and the kamameshi pot. -
What is mingei? Hamada Shōji and Japan's folk craft movement
Mingei means folk craft: everyday things made by unnamed craftspeople. How the word was coined in 1925, what it valued, and how the potter Hamada Shōji worked by it in Mashiko. -
Pottery and porcelain: how to tell Japan's two kinds of ceramics apart
Pottery is fired clay that absorbs water and blocks light. Porcelain is white, glassy and rings when tapped. How Japan's two kinds of ceramics differ, and where each began.