Hyozan Kiln: Handmade Japanese Tableware and How to Choose It

Hyozan Kiln pottery is easy to recognize once you've held one piece from it: the surface carries a carved or shaved texture rather than a smooth glaze, and the shapes lean toward bowls, plates, and cups sized for daily use rather than display. The kiln's work is attributed to both Gifu, Japan and Fukuoka, Japan, and Pottery (ceramic) is the material behind every piece on record.

A texture you can feel before you see it

The small plate above is a Gifu piece: a round plate with a thick shaved rim and green penetrating through the glaze, standing 2.6cm tall. The shaving technique leaves a ridged edge you can feel with a thumb, which is part of what distinguishes this kiln's plates from a smooth-rimmed alternative.

That same shaved, carved approach shows up across the kiln's other shapes too, from small plates through to the larger rim bowls below.

From Gifu to Fukuoka, one material

A rim bowl from the Fukuoka side of the kiln's output measures 18cm across and 4.5cm tall, wide enough to serve a shared dish rather than a single portion. Despite the different origin, it's built from the same Pottery (ceramic) as the Gifu plate above, so the material stays consistent even as the region and shape change.

Choosing by shape and size

Bowls, plates, cups, and a rice bowl make up the shapes on record from this kiln. A cup in white slip, shown below, carries the same shaved surface treatment as the plate above but in a form meant for drinking rather than serving. Other pieces from the kiln range from a 3cm-tall small plate to a 12.5cm rice bowl, so the sizing spans single-cup to shared-dish use.

Where to start

Between a small carved plate, a wide rim bowl, and a white slip cup, the three pieces above cover most of what this kiln makes. Browse the full Hyozan Kiln collection, or narrow by shape in the Bowl and Cup collections.