Enjoy the essence of Japanese Tea with the Echizen Tea Cup Set

This set includes a hot water cooler which would retain the most suitable temperature that would maximize the scent of the tea. All of the Tea cups are handcrafted by craftsmen at the Echizen kiln, one of the 6 ancient kilns in Japan.

The ancestors who lived in the archipelago had discovered earthenwares more than 12000 years ago, making Japanese Yakimono one of the most historically lasting craftsmanship in the world. Through centuries of inheritance and improvements, Japanese Yakimono has achieved worldwide reputation in its craftsmanship. Moreover, the richness in different types of earthenwares at Echizen is also ranked one of the top in the world.

The history of Echizen Yakimono could be traced back to around 850 years ago. In 1948, Echizen kiln was recognized by the government as one of the 6 representative kilns in Japan, and thus became renowned in the country.

In 2017, the agency of cultural affairs officially classified Echizen Yakimono as a “Japanese cultural heritage”. Ever since then, numerous campaigns promoting Yakimono had been carried not only within Japan, but also overseas.

We only use earthenwares from our production land as the raw materials for Echizen Yakimono. With a large amount of iron included, It can easily pull out the scent of the tea.

One of the most appealing feature of Echizen Yakimono is its connection to nature. You can feel the warmth of natural earthenwares and the dedication of Echizen Craftsman by using it in your daily lives. Unlike other pottery craftsmanships around the world which focus on the beauty of good proportions that are discreetly designed, Echizen Yakimono emphasizes more on the beauty born of the natural shapes and colors. This means that each and every Yakimono is unique from others and the only one in the world.

For this project, through using Echizen Yakimono techniques, we’ve made tea sets that would help you to enjoy Japanese tea.

In the process of tea-making, it is important to cool down the boiled water by 10 degrees in order to achieve the best taste. Therefore, we’ve included a hot water cooler in our tea sets which would help you to make enjoyable tea even with simple tea decks.

It is a cultural tradition in Japan to serve tea when a guest visits the house. Gradually, Sado, the Japanese tea culture, was developed from such a long lasting tradition. It became an “omotenashi”, the Japanese term for hospitality, that could only be seen in Japan.

Enjoying tea in a tranquil space while experiencing the Japanese concept of beauty “wabi (simplicity)” and “sabi (elegance)”. This is what we call the essence of the Japanese tea culture.

However, it would be extremely costly to have all the tea utensils ready at home. Therefore, with the desire to promote tea culture to more people, this time we’ve carried out a product design project specifically on tea sets.

Yoshida, an experienced craftsman from the Housaigama kiln, is in charge of making our tea sets. He has more than 30 years of experiences in his craftsmanship.

When he was young, Yoshida has devoted himself in improving Yakimono crafting skills. Right now, he is even able to make the tools necessary to shape Yakimono.

“There is a deep heritage and long history in Japanese tea culture. Through using the tea sets, we would like people to experience the culture not only through drinking the tea, but also through enjoying the space of tea drinking and the human relations emerged from the tea culture”

Said Yoshida.

Yoshida not only makes ordinary Yakimono products such as vessels, but also produces artworks that depict the local culture and people’s daily lives.

He is currently utilizing the experiences and the unique perspectives he accumulated from his past works as the inspirations for his new works.