Hanasennin's Raku Tea Bowls | Kato Nagakazu, Fujisawa

Unlike the even circle a wheel produces, a Raku bowl carries the subtle variation left by the hand. Settling naturally into the hands of the person using it, and opening a quiet interval, is what these bowls have long been valued for.

What a Raku tea bowl is

Raku tea bowls were first made in Kyoto in the late sixteenth century by the potter Chojiro, and developed in close connection with Sen no Rikyu's wabi-cha.

In a culture where Chinese and Korean wares were reimagined for tea, the Raku bowl was made to be used in chanoyu — its form following the act of whisking a single bowl of tea and receiving it in both hands.

What defines Hanasennin's bowls

Forming by hand rather than on a wheel is a characteristic shared broadly across Raku tea bowls. What sets Hanasennin apart is that he went further: using no forming table either, he raised each bowl entirely on his palms.

As a result, each bowl differs in contour and in how it sits in the hands. The fingermarks and unevenness of hand-forming remain in the surface — traces of touch that belong to the aesthetic of wabi-sabi.

From forming to firing

Formed in about 10 min 10–12 min per bowl in the final firing

Forming takes roughly ten minutes. Within that short span, the broad shape of the bowl is settled. The bowl is then left to dry naturally and finished by carving with a hera.

Firing was carried out on dry, clear winter days. In the final firing, the heated bowl was drawn from the kiln with iron tongs and cooled rapidly in an iron vessel of water. Hanasennin's production records note that the colour of the glaze comes up at this moment.

Four records

01 The Hand-Pinched Raku Tea Bowl

Forming and carving with a hera, the tactile balance in the hands, and firing one bowl at a time. Three qualities that define the form.

02 New Hand-Pinched Raku

The method Hanasennin devised and named himself in Fujisawa during the Showa 30s — beginning with choosing the clay and preparing the kiln and tools.

03 How the Bowls Were Made

Finding clay, building the kiln, seasoning the wood, forming, bisque firing and the final firing. Hanasennin's production records in eight stages.

04 A Short History of the Raku Tea Bowl

Kyoto, the late sixteenth century. Chojiro and Sen no Rikyu's wabi-cha, and the shift from imayaki to the name Raku.

Beginnings of the practice

When beginning his Raku practice, Hanasennin received practical guidance from Kozo Yoshida, a junior alumnus of the Tokyo Fine Arts School.

For clay, he used the blue and white clays found around Yugyoji temple, Enoshima and Kamakura. Seeking out local clay on foot remained part of his practice throughout his life.

Clay as a flowing material

Hanasennin worked with the flow and gravity of soft, water-rich clay, raising the form on his palms. In his production records he describes this movement of the clay in relation to fluid dynamics.

Where a wheel decides shape through rotation, this method lets the angle of the hands, gravity and the movement of the clay itself decide it. Some of his bowls are lighter than they look, with a deep interior suited to whisking matcha. The visualisation below reconstructs how the forming took place.