Oribe Pearled Cliff

This Oribe piece is a bold, expressive statement by Iga ware artist Fukushima Kazuhiro. Strikingly textural, its planes of clay reach upward like a living cliff face, while a thick, inwardly curving opening suggests the mouth of a cave. A single thin area on the rim offers a natural place to rest the lips, drawing the gaze into the depths of the rocky cavern within.

White clusters seem to push through the surface where feldspar, a raw material of glaze, is applied thickly. As the piece is fired, the glaze contracts unevenly against the clay, pulling apart to reveal a cracked, textured surface. This deliberate effect, known as kairagi, transforms the natural separation of clay and glaze into a striking mountainscape.

Green Oribe and three other glazes pool around the fractured textures, suggesting how water flows or how plant life stretches across the earth. Small pinholes known as ishihaze appear where stones within the clay body have risen to the surface. The glaze accents the clay beneath without hiding it, revealing the organic expressiveness of the material itself.

Fukushima skillfully maneuvers the unpredictable forces of the wood-fired anagama kiln’s ash and flames into something intentional, creating the one-of-a-kind convergence of factors that birthed this creation. 

Fukushima Kazuhiro

Born as the eighth-generation successor of the Mukai Kiln, which has thrived in Iga for over three centuries, Fukushima Kazuhiro creates ceramic works that combine the profound presence of earth with the translucent beauty of vidro glaze and the distinctive, crackled kairagi texture. While deeply rooted in tradition, his work embraces a contemporary sensibility, transforming the seemingly accidental patterns formed by fire, clay, and ash into deliberate expressions of artistry. Through this process, Fukushima opens new horizons for Iga ware, infusing each piece with striking individuality and life.

Iga Ware

Iga ware, produced in the Iga region of Mie Prefecture, is celebrated for its deep roots in Japanese ceramic history and its distinctive character. With a lineage stretching back some 1,200 years, Iga ware rose to prominence during the Momoyama period (1573–1615 CE), when it became closely tied to the aesthetics of the tea ceremony.

As a form of traditional Japanese pottery, Iga ware is admired for its robust clay, earthy texture, and the organic beauty that emerges through various firing methods. The natural ash glazing and translucent green, glass-like vidro effects created by the intense heat of the kiln reveal the expressive artistry that defines Iga ware.