Arita Hasami Soba Choko, Tokushichi-Gama Hand-Painted Cherry Yunomi 8 cm

A small porcelain cup from Tokushichi-gama (徳七窯) in the Arita / Hasami porcelain corridor on the Saga / Nagasaki prefectural border. Both Arita-yaki (有田焼) and Hasami-yaki (波佐見焼) are designated METI Traditional Crafts (Arita 1977, Hasami 1978), and many modern kilns straddle both classifications because they share the same kaolin clay, the same 1300°C reduction firing, and the same overglaze-enamel decorative idiom. This kiln is classified under both ware-lines.

The form is a そば猟口 soba choko — the small tapered cup the Edo-period Arita potters first developed in the late 1600s to hold dipping sauce for cold soba noodles — and the same vessel also serves as a 湯呑 yunomi, an everyday tea cup. At 160 ml capacity and 8 cm diameter / 6.5 cm height, it sits in the size band where either use is comfortable. In a Japanese home it serves equally well as soba dipping cup, tea cup, sake cup (large pour), small dessert cup, or sauce / dressing ramekin.

The decoration is hand-painted (手描 tegaki). The motif reads as sakuranbo (さくらんぼ / 桜桃) — clustered cherry fruits, painted as soft red bossed dots scattered across the white porcelain surface, each one ringed by an unglazed thin halo where the iron-oxide enamel meets the clear gloss, and connected by slim brown iron-pigment branch-stems that fork and bend across the body. The painting is loose and gestural rather than tightly drafted — the kind of brushwork that makes each piece slightly different from its neighbours on the kiln shelf, which is part of the appeal of hand-painted everyday Arita/Hasami work.

About this maker

Made by Tokushichi-gama / Arita-yaki & Hasami-yaki porcelain in Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, curated by ZenKiln

徳七窯 (Tokushichi-gama) is a porcelain kiln that produces hand-painted everyday tableware in the Arita / Hasami corridor. Arita is older and more famous (Japan's first porcelain town, 1616, founded after Korean potter Yi Sam-pyeong identified kaolin at Izumiyama), while Hasami in neighbouring Nagasaki ran in parallel through the same Edo centuries, producing the higher-volume everyday porcelain that supplied Japan's daily tables. In modern practice the two regions share kilns and techniques, which is why pieces like this are classified under both ware-lines.

Use & care

A dual-purpose vessel — equally at home as soba dipping cup, daily tea cup, small dessert cup, or condiment ramekin. Hand-wash recommended for the hand-painted decoration; microwave and dishwasher safety not specified, so we default to conservative care guidance — confirm with us before machine-washing or microwaving. Avoid scouring pads on the painted areas.