Tokusa Rice Bowl

Traditional Tokusa Design

Traditional Japanese tokusa motif – Very delicate brush touch of light gray lines. The name comes from the tokusa plant, which grows thin straight leaves. This brush work requires highly skilled artisan’s hand.

True “Terroir” of Iga

Iga region, where this pottery is made, used to be the bed of Lake Biwa about 4 million years ago. The clay is coarse and consists of a high level of pre-historic fossilized microorganisms that leave the clay porous when fired. With this effect, when Iga-yaki (Iga-style) pottery is fashioned by artisanal hands, it builds the signature wabi-sabi (“unfinished beauty”) look. This exceptional wabi-sabi beauty of Iga-yaki pottery has been praised by pottery lovers in Japan over centuries.

Authentic Iga-yaki pottery by Nagatani-en

Iga-yaki pottery is one of Japan’s mos