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Hello as per the title, I am looking for someone that is willing to let go of theirs. Any style of kyusu.

Thank you,

Are these so hard to come by these days? Seems to me there is regular supply on sites like Artistic Nippon and Isobe, no?

Bok wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 07, 2022 8:20 pm

Are these so hard to come by these days? Seems to me there is regular supply on sites like Artistic Nippon and Isobe, no?

You have to be quick it seems, they sell pretty quick.

I have one, I could maybe convince myself to sell…but I’m not there yet lol.

You could try writing to Toru at Artistic Nippon and let him know what you’re looking for. I use my Yamada Sou blue hobin just about every day and couldn’t resist buying a matching cup. Such a cheerful way to start the day.

I happened to be looking at a few new pieces on AN and seriously considered also buying a Kyusu. Then I realized that If I could afford a $600+ Pot I could instead buy an Apple Watch. I might have ended up justifying buying both the pot and the watch but the pots I’ve seen on AN have small openings making them much more difficult to clean than a hobin.

It surprises me why these blue pots are so popular. I much prefer the unglazed pots, but I guess he has developed this blue appearance as his signature? Any clue as to what he adds to make it blue?

i don't know his "aoyu" blue glaze composition. but it's a glaze he applies to white clay. i think he electric fires them and then wood fires some of them after for additional effect.

i have one of his pots. i waited a long time for one that i really liked the look of to appear. i'm surprised that they're hard to find now. that was never the case before.

edit: as for why they're popular... first, his family's popular. especially his grandfather. second, he's a talented artist, and the pots are good functionally and aesthetically. including the magic no-dribble spout.

@Janice well an Apple product will for sure loose ALL its value after a few years. A pot nicely taken care of, will serve you a lifetime.

pedant wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 08, 2022 10:32 am

i don't know his "aoyu" blue glaze composition. but it's a glaze he applies to white clay. i think he electric fires them and then wood fires some of them after for additional effect.

i have one of his pots. i waited a long time for one that i really liked the look of to appear. i'm surprised that they're hard to find now. that was never the case before.

edit: as for why they're popular... first, his family's popular. especially his grandfather. second, he's a talented artist, and the pots are good functionally and aesthetically. including the magic no-dribble spout.

Clarification: I meant to ask why his blue ones are so particularly popular vs his unglazed ones that carry the same family reputation and no drip spouts.

It's interesting also that he can sell the blue pots for nearly 2x the price of the non-blue pots, both being woodfired.

idk, i think his aoyu pots look pretty cool. also the aoyu pots might be more work. some of them are fired like 3x, so maybe that factors into the cost.

but maybe there's a new smurf movie coming out or something?

pedant wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 08, 2022 12:20 pm

but maybe there's a new smurf movie coming out or something?

The 3x firing- that might be it. Probably a lot of them don't survive

Not intending to redirect the op, but if a colored wood fired pot is desired, Taisuke Shiraiwa using tokanome clay with sand from the Hokkaido beaches is another option (cheaper for sure, and to some, such as myself, better looking)

I have several of Taisuke’s unglazed pots and find that they increase the sensation of body and produce a smooth liquor without muting.

There’s been a post here regarding the Sou’s aoyu pots contributing a bad flavor to tea. They are pretty but I’ve avoided them because of this risk. His mayake pots are similar to Taisuke’s in how they effect tea.

Take it all with a grain of salt. I’ve learned that there’s tremendous variance between what any two people can perceive in any given tea.

Each firing will incur a certain percentage of loss, that explains the price, plus more time, more work and more money of course.

TKK has few new pieces available: https://www.tee-kontor-kiel.de/sou-yamada/

enjoi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:51 pm

TKK has few new pieces available: https://www.tee-kontor-kiel.de/sou-yamada/

995 euro?!? My word. Mine is very similar, it’s not one of his smooth blue pieces. It’s gnarly. And I didn’t pay nearly that much!