Traditional craft
Satsuma Yaki
薩摩焼
Kagoshima pottery with two faces: elegant, crackled white Satsuma with gold painting, and rustic black Satsuma for daily use.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 30 January 2002
- Type
- Ceramics
- Region
- Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- 薩摩焼
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 鹿児島市、指宿市、日置市
White Satsuma, black Satsuma
Satsuma Yaki is remarkably varied. It has six traditional lines, and by product it divides into white Satsuma, black Satsuma and porcelain. It is made in Kagoshima city, Ibusuki and Hioki in Kagoshima, with kilns found all over the prefecture.
- White Satsuma (shiro-satsuma): pale yellow pottery under a clear glaze, covered in fine crackle and decorated with blue, coloured enamels and gold.
- Black Satsuma (kuro-satsuma): brown iron-rich clay finished in black, brown or amber glazes, with a rustic feel.
Clay refined again and again
For white Satsuma, several clays are mixed, dissolved in water and settled again and again to make a very fine clay that sits between porcelain and pottery. After shaping, bisque firing, glazing and firing, it gets overglaze painting. Black Satsuma uses different clays and skips the repeated refining, to keep its earthy feel.
SATSUMA in Paris
Satsuma Yaki was started by Korean potters brought back by the Shimazu lord at the time of Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea. Over more than 400 years it grew into lines such as Katano, Ryumonji and Naeshirogawa. In 1867, the Satsuma domain exhibited on its own at the Paris World Expo, where Satsuma ware charmed Europeans and made the name SATSUMA famous worldwide.
Good to know
- Many Kagoshima kilns welcome visitors, and some offer pottery classes or have cafés with views; a kiln-hopping drive is a fun day out.
- Pick up the Satsuma pottery map from the prefecture's potters' cooperative, listing more than 60 kilns.
Questions travellers ask
What is the difference between white and black Satsuma?
White Satsuma is pale, crackled and finely painted; black Satsuma is dark-glazed, rustic everyday ware.
Why is Satsuma famous abroad?
It dazzled visitors at the 1867 Paris World Expo, where the Satsuma domain exhibited on its own.
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.