Yutki tenmoku is a glazing technique where silvery white or golden brown crystals emerge on the background of jet-black glaze like floating oil droplets, or yuteki. Since old times, yuteki tenmoku ware has been valued as one of the finest, only second to yohen ware, by masters of the tea ceremony in Japan. Since yuteki tenmoku glazing tends to cause the ceramics to crack in the kiln, earthenware is normally used as material, but at the Shinemon Kiln we take on the challenge of using porcelain instead. It is not only the experts who appreciate the noble beauty of yuteki tenmoku: many ordinary Japanese people are also familiar with it through scenes from period TV dramas, where tenmoku bowls are served on a stand called tenmoku-dai. It is said that yuteki tenmoku bowls were originally made by dedicated potters of the southern Song China (in the 12th and 13th centuries) for their emperors and the intellectuals. Yuteki tenmoku ceramics, with their mysterious beauty and appeal, have been valued not only for their attractive appearance but also for the landscape of deep space in their design that can only be grasped through sharp minds and pure spirits. The blackness of the background that embraces and sublimates everything on it symbolizes the profound spirit of the Song China.

• Cinnabar
• Kinyo
• Yuteki Tenmoku
• The Galaxy
• Tenryuji Seiji