ZenKiln Journal | Japanese Ceramics, Lucky Cat Meanings & Gift Guides – tagged "field-notes" – Page 4

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Nezu Museum Ceramics Exhibition 2026: A Visitor's Guide A researched guide to the Nezu Museum’s August 15–October 12, 2026 ceramics exhibition: Chinese, Japanese and Korean works,...
Chūsen: The Pour-Dyeing Craft Behind Tenugui and Yukata How chūsen colours tenugui and yukata: stencil-pasting, pour-dyeing, controlled gradients, and the connected histories of Tokyo and Osaka.
HandMade In Japan Fes 2026: Craft, Materials and Makers A source-based look at HMJ 2026, held July 11–12 at Tokyo Big Sight, with around 3,000 creator participations...
Lucie Rie at Teien: Form, Glaze and the East–West Exhibition Lucie Rie’s ceramic buttons, incised lines and glaze experiments, considered through museum research and the setting of the...
Lucie Rie at the Teien Museum: The 2026 Exhibition Lucie Rie’s 2026 Teien Museum exhibition: the artist, selected works and Art Deco setting, with the announced Osaka...

Craft & Kilns

Deep dives into kilns, glazes, and the wares behind them.

Kutani plates, vase, teacup, and stoneware bowl displaying aote, akae, and gold enamel styles

Kutani

Kutani Ware History: Ko-Kutani, Yoshidaya, and Japan Kutani

Kutani village history, Arita evidence for Ko-Kutani-style porcelain, Yoshidaya’s revival, and Meiji exports—without dating objects from style or marks alone.

Equal-size red and blue Edo Kiriko tumblers with sharp kagome and yarai cut patterns

Kiln Study

Edo Kiriko: Tokyo Cut Glass, Its Patterns and Care

Pale Hagi ware teabowls, cups, and a sake flask arranged on a quiet Japanese table

Kiln Study

Hagi Ware: Yamaguchi Tea Ceramics and the Seven Changes

Blue-and-white Hasami porcelain bowls, cups, and plates set for an everyday meal

Kiln Study

Hasami Ware: Nagasaki Porcelain for Everyday Tables

Browse all studies

Care & Guides

Practical reading for the pieces you use every day.

View all care guides

Series

Four collections of stories on tea bowls, lacquer, color and care.

Teabowl Studies

Teabowl Studies

Reading the chawan — kilns, glazes, and how a bowl is held

Urushi Studies

Urushi Studies

The craft of Japanese lacquer, layer by layer

Color of Utsuwa

Color of Utsuwa

How Japanese ceramics found their palette

Object Care

Object Care

How to live with handmade objects

All Stories

Browse the Journal, newest first. For our specialist collections, visit Series above.

A clear Edo-glass goldfish wind chime with a paper strip hanging in a sunlit open window framed by green foliage.

Japanese Summer Cooling: The Art of Ryō o Toru

A quiet tea setting with an iron kettle, kyusu, white cup of green tea, and loose leaf on linen by a shoji screen.

The Six Essentials of Tea: Leaf, Water, Fire, Vessel, Setting, Person

Exhibition signboard for Lucie Rie: Elegant Vessels Fusing East and West beside the glass nameplate of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum

Lucie Rie at the Teien Museum: The 2026 Exhibition

A white porcelain cup of pale green sencha with a fine thread of rising steam, beside a warm kyusu on linen by a shoji screen.

How to Appreciate Tea Aroma: Leaf, Brew and Empty Cup

A dark tenmoku-style teabowl of bright green matcha on linen, with a pale celadon cup blurred behind.

What Tea Goes With What Glaze: A Pairing Guide by Color

A hand-painted calico Kutani maneki neko with a raised paw, on a soft warm background.

Calico and Orange Maneki Neko: Meanings and Differences

A hand-painted black Kutani maneki neko with a raised paw, Mount Fuji and wave motifs, on a soft warm background.

Black Maneki Neko Meaning: Protection and the Lucky Cat

A Kutani porcelain vase with a luminous yellow glaze, centred on a soft grey studio background.

Asakura Isokichi: Colour and Form in Modern Kutani

A pair of hand-painted Japanese porcelain mugs in an open paulownia-wood gift box on a sunlit table.

5 Thoughtful Japanese Ceramics for a Housewarming Gift