Bizen Pottery - cup

 *Request a cup size, and I will check to see if it is available or possible to custom order.

Shokunin: Tokeido

Origin: Okayama prefecture

Dimensions: Wabi-sabi (no guaranteed size or design)

Care: Wash and dry like your typical tableware. Don't use in microwave or dishwasher.

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You love your earthy pottery. 

Using handmade ceramics grounds you.

It reminds you of nature and how much we truly rely on it.

The texture against your hands as you sip your morning tea dissolves the stress of screens, work, and other humans. 

But you aren’t exposed to enough variety of pottery around you.

All you can find are the mass-produced styles in mega stores or the poorly designed ones in amateur flea markets.

I get it. It’s hard to find masterful work that still feels like tableware that belongs in your hands and not behind some glass case.

Enter: Bizen pottery.

One of the byproducts of Japan’s legendary Six Kilns.

You want earthy?

Bizen pottery was crafted inside of Earth’s core.

You want texture?

Bizen pottery feels like moisturizing yourself in the nutrients of the best soil around.

I went to Okayama to interview Kimura-san and discover why his family has been creating Bizen pottery for so long.

After all, the firing process that happens once a year keeps the shokunin awake for hours through the night as they carefully manipulate the log fire to manifest their world-renown ceramics.

That was a mouthful.

But not as full as the soil that Kimura-san uses for his pottery. 

It’s taken from local rice fields that are filled with all the minerals that make Bizen pottery beautiful without glaze.

And great at holding water. 

No wonder it was used for preserving clean water in ancient Japan. The composition of the soil creates a circulation effect in the water that keeps it continually fresh. Whether that’s water for your flowers or your body, Bizen pottery is the move.

I use my Bizen cup daily. Water, tea, even milk. It just feels better than the fake ceramics you get at any store or even glass.

I feel like I’m drinking from the bosom of nature itself. Talk about sustenance.

Drop a cup, plate, bowl, or animal figurine into your cart and see what this earthy ceramic craft does for your daily stress levels.

Relax with Bizen.

Especially if you think mindful living is important for your mental health.

Otherwise forget reflection and keep on grinding.