Aka-Raku Chawan

Name: Aka-Raku Chawan
Brand: Touan
SKU: US-M460
Price: 96.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Touan

$96.00

Colour: Red

Kuro Raku Chawan - front view of the deep black raku matcha bowl

Aka-Raku Chawan - front view of the red raku matcha bowl with black patches

Shiro Raku Chawan - front view of the white raku bowl with a waisted hantsutsu-gata shape and unglazed clay foot

Aka-raku (赤楽) or Red Raku is one of the main styles of raku pottery. These are traditionally glazed in a transparent lead-based glaze (though modern formulations vary and lead-free recipes are now common), before being fired at a lower temperature of around 700-900°C and allowed to cool slowly. The colour of aka-raku bowls can vary from a vibrant red, with white and black colour variations, to a more muted orange or pink. Typically, this colour comes from the clay itself, with the glaze merely being clear, however in many more affordable modern aka-raku chawan, the glaze itself may be tinted red.

Pictured here is Tarobo, one of the original Aka-raku chawan attributed to Chōjirō. Earlier aka-raku chawan like this were much less vibrant than the modern style, which developed a few decades later.

Founded in 1922 at HIgashiyama Senyū-ji Temple, Touan has since become one of the largest Kyo-yaki and Kiyomizu-yaki producers, with over 20 artisans hand-crafting and painting each piece. In contrast to the standard overglaze painting technique that Kyoto ceramics are known for, Touan has developed an underglaze technique that produces the same vibrant colours and delicate lines, but is more durable due to the glaze being layered on top of the painting.

Touan is headed by fourth generation potter Dobuchi Yoshiaki (土渕善亜貴) who is known for his stunning developments in glazing, creating Touan's new signature crystal flower glaze. Additionally, he is one of only a handful of potters who has successfully replicated the elusive yōhen tenmoku glaze.

Touan — rows of freshly thrown white ceramic cups and stacked plates drying on wooden boards by a workshop window

Because of their porosity, raku chawan are very 'soft' and delicate. Before its first use, we highly recommend soaking the entire piece in warm water for 30 minutes, allowing water to enter and tighten the gaps in the clay, before air drying it completely. For additional strengthening, rice water (the cloudy water left when washing rice) can be used, with the tiny rice particles helping fill the gaps in the clay. Be sure not to let the bowl soak for too long as the clay might begin to soften.

For each subsequent use, soaking for a few minutes is all that is needed. At first the bowl will produce a clay odour, but this will disappear with time and repeated use.

Due to their porous nature, raku chawan should only be used for preparing matcha and not for holding any type of food.