Traditional craft
Izushi Yaki
出石焼
Pure white porcelain from the old castle town of Izushi in Hyogo, with a silky surface and very fine carving and openwork.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 3 March 1980
- Type
- Ceramics
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 出石焼
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 豊岡市
Whiter than white
Izushi Yaki is the one porcelain area in Japan known for pure white porcelain. Its smooth surface looks like silk, and highly skilled carving brings out the whiteness, giving pieces a clean, elegant feel. It is made in Izushi, now part of Toyooka in Hyogo, mostly as vases and tea ware.
Carved, pierced and applied
The main material is a white local porcelain stone. Before firing, makers decorate the body by carving, openwork piercing, applying raised pieces or painting. The process leaves very little to chance: every step must be carefully controlled.
A white stone in a castle town
In the mid-Edo period, a large deposit of white porcelain stone was found near Izushi. With support from the lord, potters were invited from Arita in today's Saga and began making porcelain in the castle town. More kilns followed, and Izushi became a porcelain centre.
Good to know
- Izushi is often called the Kyoto of Tajima; its old castle-town streets are a lovely setting to see white porcelain.
- Hold a piece to the light: openwork and thin carving glow in pure white.
Questions travellers ask
What makes Izushi porcelain special?
Its pure white body and very fine carving and openwork.
Where is Izushi?
In Toyooka city, in the north of Hyogo prefecture.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Ako: the town that made Japan's finest salt
- Awaji: the first island in Japan's creation myth
- Inaba and Tajima: landscapes made by the Sea of Japan wind
- Itami and Nada: the birthplace of Japan's clear sake
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Tamba-Sasayama: a castle town in a folk song
- The Kanmon Strait: retro ports on both shores
- The Silver Carriage Road: 73 km to Hyogo's mines
- The Six Ancient Kilns: pottery born and raised in Japan
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.