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Hand Crafted Japanese Teapot

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Please note that the reservation of item is only valid for ONE month from the date of the price quoted. After One month, the item will be automatically released without prior notice.

【Akira Hojo】

Teapot Evaluation Technique Using Tea

The mesurement of volume is conducted using glass beads. There is some measurement errors about 10-15% of the indicated volume.

Iga Natural Red Clay that enhances the body

I wanted to find the clay that enhances the body and widens the taste of tea on palate. The clay that enhances the body is suitable for fermented teas, such as oolong, black tea and raw pu-erh. It also works well for green tea and all other types of tea. The flavour of green tea becomes very rich if this clay is used. With stronger body, you may feel the sweetness around the palate at the side of mouth and it lingers for a while. Based on my experience, it is less difficult to find the clay teapot that increases the after taste. Some metal ware such as iron kettle and tin will increases the aftertaste too. However, it is quite hard to find the clay that enhances body.

I assumed that the clay in either Shigaraki or Iga area may increases body. It is because the sake, tea and water in these areas give very strong body. The Iga and Shigaraki used to be the bottom of the Biwa Lake back in a few hundred million years ago. The soil in these places is very rich in alkaline minerals and it enhances the body when it is used for the teapot or other tea ware. Generally, Iga and Shigaraki is known for the white clay. However, these places also produce very special red clay (朱泥) too.

The surface of teapot becomes moist

When tea was left in the Iga clay teapot for a while, we observed that the surface of teapot gets moisten. It is because this clay is very porous.This property is deminishing after using it for some time as the clay is sealed by the minerals eluted from tea. Some old Yi Xing clay teapots also do have the same property.

Iga Natural Red Clay Teapot Oxidation Fire by Maekawa Junzo

The production yield of Iga clay teapot is extremely low due to the less elastic character of clay. For example, out of 3 models the artist produces, we can only recover one teapot. The 2/3 of teapots get cracked during frying or firing. Due to the difficulty in craftmanship and low yeild, the price of Iga natural red clay tea ware is relatively higher than other clay.

Japanese teapot

We worked side by side with Junzo Maekawa who is the artist from Tokoname. He has a very unique back ground. He studied engineering in university. His logical approach makes teapots very functional.

Iga Natural Red Clay Teapot

The production yield of Iga clay teapot is extremely low due to the less elastic character of clay. For example, out of 3 models the artist produces, we can only recover one teapot. The 2/3 of teapots get cracked during frying or firing. Due to the difficulty in craftmanship and low yeild, the price of Iga natural red clay tea ware is relatively higher than other clay.

Iga Natural Clay Teapot

Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY264 Iga Natural Red Clay Teapoti 110ml Paper Box JPY21800   MY265Iga Natural Red Clay Teapot 110ml Paper Box JPY21800 

Iga Natural Clay Hohin

Japanese teapot  
All Iga wares come with direct hole filter.  
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY174 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 140ml Paper Box JPY21,800  MY175 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 140ml Paper Box JPY21,800 
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY177 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 140ml Paper Box JPY21,800  MY178 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 140ml Paper Box JPY21,800 
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY180 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 140ml Paper Box JPY21,800 MY181 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 140ml Paper Box JPY21,800 
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY190 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 120ml Paper Box JPY21,800 SOLD MY191 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 130ml Paper Box JPY21,800 
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY233 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 170ml Paper Box JPY21,800  MY234 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 160ml Paper Box JPY21,800 SOLD 
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY236 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 160ml Paper Box JPY21,800  MY237 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 160ml Paper Box JPY21,800  
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY281 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 130ml Paper Box JPY21,800  MY283 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 130ml Paper Box JPY21,800 SOLD 
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY285 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 130ml Paper Box JPY21,800 MY286 Iga Natural Red Clay Hohin 130ml Paper Box JPY21,800 
Japanese teapot

Shiboridashi

Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY255 Iga Natural Red Clay Shiboridashi 80ml Paper Box JPY21,800 MY256 Iga Natural Red Clay Shiboridashi 70ml Paper Box JPY21,800
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY259 Iga Natural Red Clay Shiboridashi 70ml Paper Box JPY21,800  MY260 Iga Natural Red Clay Shiboridashi 80ml Paper Box JPY21,800
Japanese teapot Japanese teapot
MY129 Iga Natural Red Clay Pitcher 200ml Paper Box JPY7500 SOLD MY130 Iga Natural Red Clay Pitcher 200ml Paper Box JPY7500 SOLD

Kobiwako Clay Teapot

We found this clay near the borders of Iga and Shigaraki where it used to be at the bottom of the Biwa Lake way back 4-6 million years ago. The clay from these areas is rich in alkaline mineral such as calcium and potassium that contributes a lot to the body of a tea. In addition, Kobiwako clay is very rich in iron content and the particle size of iron exists in Kobiwako clay is very small thanks to natural decomposition. We tested a number of clays from Kobiwako area and finally we found this clay after spending more than two years of effort.

The Kobiwako clay improves the after taste as well as body. Based on our experiments, this clay is suitable for all types of tea.

For those who wish to combine with tetsubin, here is our finding: