Kyoto Ware / Kiyomizu Ware

Porcelain from the Capital of a Thousand Years

As Japanese cuisine richly expresses the beauty of nature and the shifting of the seasons, the bowls and vessels used also hold a similar significance. For the cuisine to match both the season and the place, vessels of a particular color, form and texture must be chosen. The harmony that arises from the correct choices will enhance the beauty of the cuisine. Thus, it may rightly be said that vessels and ceramic ware form a fundamental component of Japanese cooking.

In Kyoto, the center of both Japanese cuisine and of the tea ceremony since olden times, vessels and other similar objects achieved a rare degree of development. Here were produced ceramics painted entirely in the most exquisite fashion, boldly overlapping glazes in which could be felt the grandeur of nature, and unexpected patterns and colors whose collision aroused the imagination. To answer the diverse requests and the discerning eyes of Kyoto's citizens, chefs, and tea ceremony masters, Kyoto's artisans set to their wheels and, while making free use of both their skill and knowledge, produced ceramics that contained every conceivable expression. At the same time, in the midst of so much work and so many trips to and from the kiln, a particular form of manufacture was established.

In this way, an original style of ceramics was born in Kyoto and called Kyoto Ware ・ Kiyomizu Ware. These ceramics have received a designation as a traditional handicraft in Japan, and even today color the scenery of the nation's cuisine.