Craft guide
ORBISCERAMICISTS & GLASSMAKERS IN KANAZAWA4 stores · curated ORBIS register
Hirosaka, Kanazawa
A Kutani-ware specialist selling original ceramics and works by established Kutani artists. The shop reports more than a century of experience dealing in Kutani ceramics.
Best for Kutani-ware ceramics by established Kutani artists, over a century of experience
Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Opened in 1870, Kutani Kosen Kiln is a Kutani-yaki kiln operating within Kanazawa city, handling every stage of production from clay blending and wheel-throwing to the layered overglaze coloring that defines the ware. The kiln sells its own porcelain and runs studio tours plus painting and pottery-making workshops for visitors.
Best for Kutani porcelain and painting workshops
Nomachi, Kanazawa
A working Kutani-ware kiln and shop producing and selling hand-painted ceramics in Kanazawa. The kiln describes itself as the last operating pottery kiln in central Kanazawa. Established 1870.
Best for Hand-painted Kutani-ware from the last operating pottery kiln in central Kanazawa, since 1870
Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
The Ohi kiln has fired Ohi-yaki tea bowls in Kanazawa since 1666 and is now led by its 11th generation. Its compound holds a Michelin-starred museum, a Kengo Kuma-designed gallery, named tea rooms, and a garden by Hiroshi Teshigawara.
Best for Ohi-yaki tea bowls fired by an 11th-generation kiln
The Ohi kiln has fired tea bowls in Kanazawa since 1666, when the fifth Maeda lord of the Kaga domain invited the tea master Sen Soshitsu to the city and the first Ohi Chozaemon - a close disciple of Ichinyu, fourth-generation head of the Raku family of potters - began working clay dug from the nearby village of Ohi. More than 360 years and eleven generations later, the kiln is led by Ohi Chozaemon XI, still producing the low-fired amber and black raku-style ware the family is known for, made in service of chado, the way of tea, under the guiding principle of wa kei sei jaku - harmony, respect, purity, tranquility. The compound itself has grown well beyond a working kiln: a museum opened in 1990 displays pieces from every generation and has been awarded a Michelin Guide star, an unusual honor for a private museum, while a 2014 gallery designed by architect Kengo Kuma shows contemporary work alongside the historical collection. Several named tea rooms sit on the grounds, including Nennen-An, whose sliding doors carry paintings by artist Hiroshi Senju, and a front garden called Futei, laid out under the supervision of Hiroshi Teshigawara. It amounts to one of the more complete places in Japan to see a single ceramic lineage - kiln, museum, garden and contemporary gallery - under one roof and one family name.
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