Seaweed impressions - Tanigawa-jin - Glaze Yunomi

Some surfaces cannot be designed. They can only be earned in fire.

The Tanigawa-jin Black Algae Glaze Yunomi is the work of Tanikawa Jin (谷川仁), one of Tokoname's most celebrated master artisans, renowned across Japan for his mastery of the mogake technique.

Each piece is wrapped in amamo seaweed before firing. As the kiln reaches temperature, the seaweed burns away, leaving behind its carbonised impression draped across the clay in patterns that are entirely unrepeatable. Fired further in the tanka style, a carbonisation process exceeding 30 hours in a reduction chamber, the result is a deep, lustrous black surface marked by the ghost of algae that will never appear the same way twice.

Handpicked by AICHA directly from the master artisans of Tokoname, this is a teacup that carries within it both the discipline of a lifetime and the irreducible randomness of fire.