Kôji Kyûsu 230 ml

This teapot was made by Kôji Iwase, who was born in Nishio in 1946. Kôji started pottery at the age of 16 and worked for a long time as an employee potter in a pottery studio. In 1980, he established his own kiln and has won several awards and prizes since then. As can be clearly seen on this teapot, Kôji is known for his very fine work. The teapot is so smooth that it feels almost like silk. 

Tokoname is the oldest of the “Six Ancient Kilns.” Ceramics have been fired in today’s Aichi Prefecture since the year 1100. In the early days, potters focused on making unglazed utilitarian ceramics. Around 1200, with approximately 3,000 kilns, it was Japan’s largest ceramics center.

In 1840, the first potters in Tokoname tried to imitate Yixing ceramics using iron-rich clay. Red shudei ceramics require the finest fraction of a highly iron-rich clay found beneath rice paddies.

When it was discovered that tea tasted better from Tokoname utensils, demand grew. From 1860, Tokoname potters tried to copy the polished surface of Yixing ceramics. In 1877, they succeeded with the help of the Chinese scholar Jin Shi Heng and other specialists. The surface of the teapot must be carefully polished with a metal spatula so that the clay compacts. Today, Tokoname is known for the colorful variety of side-handle teapots (kyûsu).  In addition to modern shapes, designs, and colors, traditional red teapots are also produced, which, like their Chinese predecessors, can be decorated with poems.