Tsugaru Kanayama-yaki

The beginning of Tsugaru Kanayama-yaki was making that drew on local resources. Around 1985, the starting point is said to have been the decision to use the clay sleeping in Kanayama's great reservoir as raw material for yakishime stoneware fired in a wood kiln. Since then, building a climbing kiln through repeated trial and error, it has honed the technique of firing vessels with Tsugaru's clay and red pine alone.

Because yakishime vessels use no glaze, the quality of the clay and the firing conditions appear directly in their expression. At the kiln site, it uses five forming techniques (wheel-throwing, machine-throwing, slip casting, pressure casting, and tatara slab-building) as appropriate, making vessels by the optimal method for each use and size. In firing, it discerns the kiln position and the path of the flames, making vessels that draw on the intended kiln effects.

Among these, what draws particular attention is the "water-purifying vessel." Tests using water bottles and cups revealed that simply leaving tap water in them overnight causes iron and calcium to be detected, earning a reputation for making water, tea and sake mellow. Combining such functionality with the deeply flavorful expression unique to yakishime is a major feature of Kanayama-yaki.

Today, Tsugaru Kanayama-yaki has gained many fans through the Wando gallery, the restaurant Yama no Kaze, its online shop, and exhibitions and collaborations around the country. To deliver vessels that are not disposable but grow in texture the more you use them, maturing along with water, plants and food. To enrich life a little through the work of Tsugaru's clay and flame. That is the form of Kanayama-yaki that the kiln and its staff cherish.

Unglazed yakishime stoneware born from Tsugaru's clay and the flames of red pine

The body of Tsugaru Kanayama-yaki is high-quality clay deposited at the bottom of Kanayama's great reservoir. Using red pine from mountain forests as fuel and firing at high temperature in a wood kiln without any glaze, it produces diverse expressions — natural ash glaze where clay components and ash melt together, sangiri (carbon scorching), ash-covered effects and more. Even vessels of the same form never share the same "scenery," growing into one-of-a-kind pieces depending on the kiln position and the flow of the flames.

Vessels of "delicious water" that purify water and even change its taste

Yakishime vessels have excellent breathability, and at Tsugaru Kanayama-yaki, water pots, "pebbles" and water bottles that draw on the "power to purify water" are especially popular. There are inspection results and reviews saying that iron and calcium dissolve out from these vessels born of clay and wood kiln, making water, tea and sake feel mellow. It proposes them in forms easy to adopt as a daily habit, such as bottles designed to fit a refrigerator door pocket.

A lineup spanning from the table to interiors and pizza ovens

Kanayama-yaki's mainstay is vessels usable at the everyday table. It offers a wide range of items that color various scenes of life — plates, bowls, beer cups and sake vessels, coffee cups and rice bowls, as well as vases, objects, pizza ovens, hand-washing basins and planters. At the Wando gallery, works are arrayed by use and theme — a commemorative-gift corner, a glaze corner, collaborations with Tsugaru-nuri and more — so you can choose vessels while having fun.

An "open kiln site" created by the kiln, artists and staff

On the grounds, centered on a climbing kiln and workshop, there are an exhibition hall, a restaurant, a short-stay shared studio and more, making it a place where visitors can experience the whole worldview of Kanayama-yaki. As an "open kiln site" involving diverse makers — the Shofu gallery gathering the kiln's one-off pieces, a corner for pottery-class instructors' works, a shop of small goods by women artists and more — it shares new ways to enjoy Kanayama-yaki.