Japan · Ceramics / Unglazed Stoneware
信楽焼 (Shigaraki-yaki)
Shigaraki ware, produced in the Shigaraki area of Shiga Prefecture, traces its origins to the 8th century Nara period, when local kilns produced roof tiles for the Shigaraki Palace; its present style was established roughly 600 years ago in the Muromachi period, and the tradition has continued for approximately 1,300 years. Shigaraki's distinctive rough, fire-resistant clay body is made by mixing kibushi, mizuchi, and gairome clays with clay drawn from the bottom of Lake Biwa. Until the Edo period, Shigaraki ware was made entirely without applied glaze, fired at high temperature in wood-burning climbing kilns, where ash from the burning wood settled on the surface and fused with feldspar in the clay to form a natural glaze — the same wood-ash mechanism found at Tokoname and Echizen. Shigaraki is popularly best known today for its tanuki (raccoon dog) figurines, a lucky-charm form that emerged in the early Shōwa era (1926-1989) and remains the tradition's most recognizable contemporary product, alongside continuing production of tea-ceremony ware and garden ceramics. The craft was designated a National Traditional Craft in 1976.
Risk level: Endangered · Not inscribed; designated a National Traditional Craft in 1976
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