Kunzan Workshop: Nanbu Tetsubin from Morioka

The workshop

Kunzan is a Nanbu cast ironware workshop in Morioka, Iwate. Its founder, Kaoru Asada, was born in 1904. He learned iron casting from the Suzuki family and founded Kunzan in 1937. Today the workshop is led by the third generation, Kazuo Sasaki, a Nationally Certified Traditional Craftsman. Kunzan is well regarded in the market because it keeps a very traditional style and a casting technique that has not changed.

The third caster of Kunzan

Kazuo Sasaki was born in 1945. He studied under Asada Kunzan from 1972, took over the workshop and the Kunzan name in 1976, and became a Nationally Certified Traditional Craftsman in 1994. Today the Kunzan name is well known in Nanbu. Sasaki still leads the making of kettles at the workshop, and the company is represented by Kenji Sasaki.

Sasaki has another side. His hobby is mountain stream fishing, and he is passionate about it. The workshop is in the suburbs of Morioka, surrounded by clean, unspoiled nature. His skill as a fisherman shows in his casting. Once you use one of his kettles, you notice that it is not only beautiful but also as practical as a good piece of fishing gear.

The workshop and its casting style

Nanbu casting workshops fall into three types: workshops that make high-end hand-made pieces close to works of art, workshops that make hand-made kettles as fine tools, and workshops that mass produce. Kunzan is the second type.

Kunzan keeps the traditional hand-casting method and handles all 80 or more steps itself, from design to finishing. At the same time, the workshop works to keep production costs down. This does not mean cutting corners or skipping steps. Kunzan chooses designs and patterns that allow a mold to be used several times before it is discarded, and it keeps the molds made by earlier craftsmen, repairing them so they can be used again. Sasaki believes that the more kettles he makes and sends out, the more feedback he receives from the people who use them. That feedback goes back into his work and refines his kettles further. As a result, his kettles are fine pieces of craft and also very practical.

The range includes traditional patterns such as arare (hail), kikko (tortoise shell) and unryu (dragon), as well as uncommon shapes such as the axle shape (shajiku) and the yuzu shape. Kunzan also makes sand iron (satetsu) kettles.

Kunzan and teapots

Kunzan kettles, including the sand iron ones, pair well with teapots made of reduction-fired clay such as Banko clay. Shigaraki clay pairs relatively well with both Kunzan and Suzuki Morihisa kettles. You will find more on pairing on the tetsubin page.

Kunzan models available to order

The kettles we have in stock are listed for sale in this collection. The models below are not in stock, but we can order them from the workshop for you. The lead time is around 3 months. To order, please contact us. We will check the lead time with the workshop and let you know. We place the order with the workshop after we receive your payment. Once we have placed the order with the workshop, we cannot accept cancellations for a change of mind.

The indicated volume is the capacity when the kettle is filled to the brim. In use, you fill it to about 50 to 60 percent of that.