Ode to the Kyusu

[pedant]

KOBASHI Masaaki (小橋 順明) [b. 1976]
wood-fired bizenyaki
129g, ~145mL

high technical excellence imo on par with yamada emu or sou. amazing pot in every way. a keeper for sure.
great, dribble-proof pour, btw.

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[Darbotek]

KOBASHI Masaaki (小橋 順明) [b. 1976]
wood-fired bizenyaki
129g, ~145mL

high technical excellence imo on par with yamada emu or sou. amazing pot in every way. a keeper for sure.
great, dribble-proof pour, btw.

Exquisite taste!

[DailyTX]

An addition member to my limited Japanese teaware arsenals. The wide opening and thin wall gave me an idea on brewing TieGuanYin today. This Kyusu has perfect pour, zero drip, and I guess my hands are big enough to maneuver it with one hand despite of being a bigger pot. Thank you @Darbotek for letting me adopt this fellow.

[DailyTX]

It seems there's a lot of information on buying Yixing wares for beginners, and not much on Kyusu. Anyone who has been collecting, using, and selling Kyusu would like to chime in on what you are looking for in a kyusu aside from a certain artisan and aesthetic of the piece?

[Aoframe]

I recently acquired this vintage kyusu. I’m new to Japanese teaware, but after browsing for information I’m willing to guess this is Mashiko-yaki, styled after the work of Hamada Shoji, possibly mid-twentieth century.
Some kind of ash glaze over iron-oxide painted decoration.

I find it charmingly rustic and I’ve been enjoying it with sencha lately.

Is anyone familiar with this type of pottery?

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[DigitalSparks]

KOSHIN, Kato Tadaomi Kyusu

This was my very first Tokoname Kyusu to have ever owned, and... the first one sadly fell victim to a falling 9" chef's knife falling into the sink where I was washing the teapot out, I had reached for something and inadvertently bumped the knife I suppose, which initiated a chain reaction of unfortunate events, the knife did a triple reverse somersault in what seemed like slow motion right before my very eyes, landing on the handle and quite literally CHOPPING IT OFF! I laugh now but it was a very very sad moment for me, in fact, I was quite shocked at just how bad I felt about it after the reality of it all set in.

Fast forward a few weeks I got in contact with Mr. Toru at Artistic Nippon, and he found me one, this style teapot was apparently discontinued and the artist is in his 80's I believe and so this teapot was becoming harder to find that I realized. When I first purchased it none of this was known to me, only after the first one broke did I realize how uncommon this particular style was.

So I buy that one and I happen to run across a vendor on Mercari Japan selling one, once I bought it I went back to review my purchase and saw two more, so I bought them too, I paid less for the 3 of them than I did the first one, so... I had to buy them Right?

Anyway, it seems that the Universe felt so bad for me that it led me to these replacements so that I would always (hopefully) have a Koshin Mogake flat Kyusu to brew my Japanese green tea with.

[debunix]

Gorgeous series….mine is currently awaiting lid repair. It was not a knife but a drop….

[Janice]

It seems there's a lot of information on buying Yixing wares for beginners, and not much on Kyusu. Anyone who has been collecting, using, and selling Kyusu would like to chime in on what you are looking for in a kyusu aside from a certain artisan and aesthetic of the piece?

I think the following thread is worth reading or re-reading for the discussion of how different Kyusu function. You could also read the discussions of different clays. I am not an expert, far from it, but I’ve assembled a small collection of Japanese tea ware by reading these sorts of threads.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=792&hilit=12+days+of+Kyusu

[DailyTX]

It seems there's a lot of information on buying Yixing wares for beginners, and not much on Kyusu. Anyone who has been collecting, using, and selling Kyusu would like to chime in on what you are looking for in a kyusu aside from a certain artisan and aesthetic of the piece?

I think the following thread is worth reading or re-reading for the discussion of how different Kyusu function. You could also read the discussions of different clays. I am not an expert, far from it, but I’ve assembled a small collection of Japanese tea ware by reading these sorts of threads.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=792&hilit=12+days+of+Kyusu

@Janice those discussions back in 2019 are valuable information. I started to pay more attention to Japanese teawares around that time, and I have acquired a few pots from popular artisans since then. I find that each artisan has their own expression on kyusu creations and clay variations. Recently, I had an opportunity to shop virtually at a shop in Japan. I ended up picking a pot from Shiraiwa Taisuke.

[czarzly]

Hi there,
Can I get your opinion about this kyusu I just bought at a second hand shop?
Do you recognise the marks?
Is it a decent one? Can I use it or do you think it might have dangerous chemicals?
Thanks a lot!

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[Victoria]

It’s fine to use. It’s an mass produced, economical kyusu from Tokoname, made of red/shudei clay probably mixed with harmless red iron oxide to give it a richer red color. Probably slip cast rather than hand wheel thrown. The metal filter (vs ceramic) makes it faster/cheaper to produce. Metal filters get clogged easily so make sure to clean out with a brush any tea leaves that get stuck when washing it out. Ceramic filters are much nicer, more aesthetic and elegant, to use but hey - a kyusu in hand is better than none. I had one once that I later gifted to another tea member.

[.m.]

KOBASHI Masaaki (小橋 順明) [b. 1976]
wood-fired bizenyaki
129g, ~145mL

high technical excellence imo on par with yamada emu or sou. amazing pot in every way. a keeper for sure.
great, dribble-proof pour, btw.

Wow, what a beautiful thing!

[ferg]

Out with the old, in with the new old. This puppy arrived today, a Maekawa Junzo clocking in at 270ml. Asako kindly confirmed with Junzo on a Saturday evening that this is in fact 50-year-old rice field clay.

I still have some sencha to finish up, purchased last season from season before that. So had to get another kyusu, at least until I’m through with it.

And yes, those are packaging materials in background I finally gathered for the folks out there. Will be shipping out this week!

Maekawa Junzo Shudei

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[steanze]

I recently acquired this vintage kyusu. I’m new to Japanese teaware, but after browsing for information I’m willing to guess this is Mashiko-yaki, styled after the work of Hamada Shoji, possibly mid-twentieth century.
Some kind of ash glaze over iron-oxide painted decoration.

I find it charmingly rustic and I’ve been enjoying it with sencha lately.

Is anyone familiar with this type of pottery?

Yes, I agree with your assessment. Very interesting philosophy of aesthetics, I suggest reading The Unknown Craftsman if you haven't already. Soetsu was a friend of Shoji.

This is a piece by Shoji Hamada, rustic but amazing attention to detail.

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[debunix]

Looks like that gorgeous little drip on the inside is a gift of the kiln ash spot?

(drooling)