Traditional craft
Agano Yaki
上野焼
Thin, elegant tea pottery from Fukuchi in Fukuoka, started in 1602 by a lord who learned tea from Sen no Rikyu himself.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 27 April 1983
- Type
- Ceramics
- Region
- Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- 上野焼
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 田川郡福智町
Glaze is the picture
Agano Yaki rarely uses painting. Its beauty is in the glazes: their colour, the way they run, the texture, the gloss and the changes made in the kiln. Because it grew as tea ware, many pieces are thin and finely made. It is made in Fukuchi town in Fukuoka, as tea and sake ware, vases, tableware and incense ware.
Thrown thin
Most pieces are thrown on the wheel, though beating, pinching, slab building and moulds are used too. Surfaces may be decorated with slip, brushed hakeme, spatula marks, carving or combing. Because pieces are thin, they are bisque-fired before painting, then fired at around 1,200°C.
Founded by a tea-loving lord
In 1602, when Hosokawa Tadaoki became lord of Kokura, he invited a Korean potter and had a climbing kiln built in Agano. Tadaoki had studied tea directly with Sen no Rikyu, and the kiln made refined pieces to meet his eye. Later, as a domain kiln, it made tea ware to the taste of the tea master Kobori Enshu and became one of the Seven Kilns of Enshu.
Good to know
- Agano kilns sit in quiet valleys at the foot of Mt Fukuchi; some welcome tea visitors through the year.
- Compare Agano with Koishiwara Yaki, Fukuoka's other traditional pottery.
Questions travellers ask
What are the Seven Kilns of Enshu?
Kilns linked to the tea master Kobori Enshu's taste; Agano is one of them.
Does Agano Yaki have painted designs?
Rarely. Its beauty comes mainly from glaze colour and flow.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.