The Many Origins of Red in Japanese Ceramics

Japanese ceramics take on red in remarkably different ways. One vessel is covered in delicate painted lines. Another carries the warm, earthy tone of the clay itself.

Among the many colors found in Japanese ceramics, red offers an especially fascinating way to appreciate the diversity of the craft. Few other colors can emerge through such a wide range of materials, techniques, and firing methods, giving rise to remarkably varied characters.

This article explores the many paths by which red is created, from pigments applied with a brush to colors born in clay, glaze, and fire.

Red in Fine Detail

Some reds reward a closer look.

From a distance, an akae vessel captivates with its brilliant overglaze decoration. Draw nearer, and the design begins to separate into delicate brushstrokes. Tiny circles, feathers, and geometric motifs emerge one after another, each preserving the movement of the brush.

A common red pigment used in overglaze decoration is bengara, composed primarily of iron oxide. For fine brushwork, repeated grinding is required. The pigment mixture must also be adjusted according to temperature and humidity, as drying can change its consistency and make it difficult to maintain uniform lines.

Unlike many other overglaze colors, bengara red does not develop the same glassy finish after firing. It can produce a strong, opaque red in a thin layer, making it particularly suited to fine linework. In akae-saibyo, red lines scarcely thicker than a strand of hair form interlocking circles, floral scrolls, and auspicious motifs stroke by stroke. Individually, they are almost imperceptible. Together, they create patterns of surprising lightness.

The lightness and darkness of the red vary with the degree of refinement, with smaller bengara particles tending to produce a more vivid red and larger particles a darker tone.

At Zoho Kiln in Gifu Prefecture, preparing the red begins long before it reaches the brush. The kiln uses a rare bengara pigment that is no longer produced, blending and grinding it for roughly one thousand days before it is ready for akae painting. Once the vessel is in the hands of its owner, the red continues to mature, gaining greater depth with time and use.

Red from the Clay

Not every red is brushed onto a finished vessel.

Rather than being applied to the surface, some reds begin with the material itself: the clay already contains the potential for color, and the firing brings it to life.

Red Raku matcha bowls offer a particularly striking example. Created in Kyoto during the late sixteenth century to suit the taste of Sen no Rikyu, these bowls were shaped entirely by hand without the use of a potter’s wheel. The warm red can come from iron contained in the clay body, visible beneath a transparent or translucent glaze. An iron-rich keshodo (decorative slip) may also be applied before glazing to produce a brighter red.

Tokoname’s shudei reaches red by another path. Made from the iron-rich clay of the Chita Peninsula, these ceramics are left unglazed so that the fired clay becomes the finished surface itself.

Over generations, artisans refined their firing techniques to draw out its distinctive vermilion hue, creating teapots with a soft texture and warm, earthy appearance. With years of use, the unglazed surface gradually develops greater depth and luster.

Red Born of Fire

Some reds cannot be prepared in advance.

They are neither brushed onto the vessel nor developed within a glaze. Instead, they come into being only during firing, shaped by the conditions inside the kiln.

In Bizen ware, reddish coloration produced through firing is known as hiiro (fire color). A particularly distinctive red effect is hidasuki, the scarlet markings formed where rice straw comes into contact with the iron-rich Bizen clay during firing. Traditionally, rice straw was placed between stacked vessels to prevent them from fusing. Where the straw touched the clay, vivid scarlet markings appeared.

The origin of this scarlet was long a mystery. Rice straw itself contains no red pigment. Instead, potassium from the straw reacts with the iron-rich Bizen clay. As the kiln cools, iron in the clay forms hematite—the same iron oxide that forms the basis of bengara. Here, no pigment is ever applied. The kiln creates the red itself.

Each firing can leave a different result. The placement of the straw, the position of the vessel, and the conditions inside the kiln all influence the final pattern. Rather than hand-applied decoration, hidasuki preserves the record of a single firing that can never be repeated.

Red Within the Glaze

Some reds seem to glow from within.

Shinsha glaze is known as one of the more difficult ceramic reds to achieve. Its color depends on several conditions coming together: the composition and thickness of the glaze, the clay body beneath it, and the conditions of the firing.

For some pieces, a whitish color can appear around the rim, where the glaze is thinner. This contrast between the pale edges and the deeper red of the body is part of the glaze’s distinctive appearance and can also help distinguish it from reds produced with iron-based colorants.

The name of the glaze comes from its resemblance to shinsha (cinnabar), the red mineral historically used as a pigment. Despite this, it is not made from cinnabar itself. The red of the glaze is instead produced by copper compounds through carefully controlled firing.

Red in ceramics is never simply one color. A scarlet marking left by rice straw, the earthy red of a teapot—each holds a record of how the vessel was made and of the particular conditions that allowed its red to appear. Behind every shade is a moment when material, human hands, and fire came together, never to be repeated in quite the same way.

View Red Collection

References: Takada, Jun, and Hiroshi Asaoka. “Taking on the Red of Pigments: Developing a New Red Pigment Inspired by Bengara.” Chemistry Today, October 2005. PDF / Toguri Museum of Art. “No. 3: On Copper Red and Red Overglaze Enamels.” Curator’s Corner, June 2017. PDF / Kusano, Yoshihiro. “Bizen-yaki ‘Hidasuki’ Moyo” [Bizen Ware “Hidasuki” Patterns]. Okayama University of Science. Research Topics. https://www.dac.ous.ac.jp/kusano/Research.html#p2