Rakuyaki or Raku is a form of Japanese pottery characterized by low firing temperatures (resulting in a fairly porous body), lead glazes, and the removal of pieces from the kiln while still glowing hot. In the traditional Japanese firing process, the pot is removed from the hot kiln and allowed to cool in the open air. Raku is considered the traditional method for creating bowls for the Japanese tea ceremony. Raku tea bowls are hand-made from earthenware, each with a unique shape and style.

The term raku is derived from the site from which clay was dug in Kyoto in the late sixteenth century. For fifteen generations, it has been the title and seal used by a lineage of potters whose work formed the central tradition in Japan. In the 16th century, the first of these potters, Chojiro, is said to have come under the patronage of the Japanese tea master Sen-No-Rikyu. According to myth, in 1598, the ruler Hideyoshi bestowed the name Raku on Chojiro- after he began making tea bowls to the great tea master’s specifications. According to Raku family tradition, upon the death of Chojiro- in 1592, his son Jokei continued the tradition. Both the name and the ceramic style have been passed down through the family to the present. Raku was also made by numerous workshops in and around Kyoto; by amateur potter tea practitioners; and by professional and amateur potters around Japan after the publication of a manual in the 18th century.

In the old capital of Kyoto, the Raku family continued to produce the rough tea bowls that had so delighted Hideyoshi. At Mino, continued to reconstruct the classic formulas of Momoyama-era Seto-type tea wares at Mino, such as the Oribe copper-green glaze and Shino ware’s prized milky glaze. Artist potters experimented endlessly at the Kyoto and Tokyo arts universities to recreate traditional porcelain and its decorations under such ceramic teachers as Fujimoto Yoshimichi, a mukei bunkazai. Ancient porcelain kilns around Arita in Kyu-shu- were still maintained by the lineage of Sakaida Kakiemon XIV and Imaizume Imaiemon XIII, hereditary porcelain makers to the Nabeshima clan; both were heads of groups designated mukei bunkazai (see Kakiemon and Imari porcelain).

Medieval kilns enabled more refined production of stoneware, which was still produced in the late 20th century, especially in central Honshu- around the city of Seto (Aichi prefecture), the wares of which were so widely used that Seto-mono became the generic term for ceramics in Japan. The overlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Korean campaigns of the late 16th century were dubbed the “ceramic wars,” since the abduction of Korean potters appeared to be a major factor in the wars. These potters introduced a variety of new techniques and styles in their artifacts that were greatly admired for the tea ceremony. They also discovered in northern Kyu-shu- the proper ingredients needed to produce porcelain and soon dazzled the guests at daimyo banquets with the first Japanese-made porcelain.

Raku ware marked an important point in the historical development of Japanese ceramics, as it is the first ware to use a seal mark and the first to focus on close collaboration between potter and patron. Other famous Japanese clay artists of this period include Donyu (1574-1656), Hon’ami Ko-etsu (1556-1637) and Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743).

Japanese tea ceremony ( chado-, or sado-) is a traditional ritual influenced by Zen Buddhism in which powdered green tea, or matcha, is ceremonially prepared by a skilled practitioner and served to a small group of guests in a tranquil setting. Colloquially it is often called ocha among Japanese.

Sado- or chado- “the way of tea” is the study or doctrine of the tea ceremony (“tea ceremony” is the most common English term, but some English speakers have adopted the term “the way of tea”). Though the two words are completely interchangeable, the pronunciation sado- is preferred by some traditions, including the Omotesenke and the Mushanoko-jisenke, while the pronunciation chado- is preferred by others, including the Urasenke tradition.

Cha-no-yu (literally “hot water for tea” or “tea flavored soup/hot water”) usually refers to either a single ceremony or ritual or equivalent with sado-/chado-, while cha-ji refers to a full tea ceremony with kaiseki (a light meal), usucha (thin tea) and koicha (thick tea), lasting approximately four hours. A chakai (literally “tea meeting”) was originally equal to cha-ji, although today it means the simplest one, which does not include a kaiseki meal, in some cases, nor even koicha.

Since a tea practitioner must be familiar with the production and types of tea, with kimono, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts in addition to his or her school’s tea practices, the study of the tea ceremony takes many years and often lasts a lifetime. Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of the prescribed gestures and phrases expected of guests, the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room.

Interest in the humble art of the village potter was revived in a folk movement of the 1920s by such master potters as Hamada Shoji and Kawai Kanjiro. These artists studied traditional glazing techniques to preserve native wares in danger of disappearing. A number of institutions came under the aegis of the Cultural Properties Protection Division. The kilns at Tamba, overlooking Kobe, continued to produce the daily wares used in the Tokugawa period, while adding modern shapes. Most of the village wares were made anonymously by local potters for utilitarian purposes. Local styles, whether native or imported, tended to be continued without alteration into the present. In Kyu-shu-, kilns set up by Korean potters in the 16th century, such as at Koishibara and its offshoot at Onta, perpetuated 16th-century Korean peasant wares. In Okinawa, the production of village ware continued under several leading masters, with Kaneshiro Jiro honored as a mukei bunkazai.

The modern masters of the traditional kilns still bring the ancient formulas in pottery and porcelain to new heights of achievement at Shiga, Ige, Karatsu, Hagi, and Bizen. Yamamoto Masao of Bizen and Miwa Kyusetsu of Hagi were designated as living cultural treasures (mukei bunkazai ?????). Only a half-dozen potters were so honored by 1989, either as representatives of famous kiln wares or as creators of superlative techniques in glazing or decoration; two groups were designated for preserving the wares of distinguished ancient kilns.

In contrast, by the end of the 1980s, many master potters no longer worked at major or ancient kilns, but were making classic wares in various parts of Japan. In Tokyo, a notable example is Tsuji Seimei, who brought his clay from Shiga but potted in the Tokyo area. A number of artists were engaged in reconstructing Chinese styles of decoration or glazes, especially the blue-green celadon and the watery-green qingbai. One of the most beloved Chinese glazes in Japan is the chocolate-brown tenmoku glaze that covered the peasant tea bowls brought back from Southern Song China (in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries) by Zen monks. For their Japanese users, these chocolate-brown wares embodied the Zen aesthetic of wabi (rustic simplicity). In the United States, a notable example of the use of tenmoku glazes may be found in the innovative crystalline pots thrown by Japanese-born artist Hideaki Miyamura.