Onta Ware Hakeme Large Plate - 27 cm - B / 小鹿田焼 大皿 K8-587 - in use condiments

condiments

During our visit to their workshop in Kyoto this summer

The motif is a glittering star floating in a calm sea

Inspired by the chrysanthemum — a flower long associated in Japan with grace

meaning “steamed in a tea bowl

Onta Ware Hakeme Large Plate - 27 cm - B / 小鹿田焼 大皿 K8-587 - in use condimentsTo reach the village of Onta ware, you travel into the mountains of Hita, Oita Prefecture. Before seeing the kilns, you hear them. The soft, rhythmic sound of karausu traditional water powered wooden mills echoes through the valley as they slowly crush the local clay. It is a sound that seems to belong to the landscape itself, and a sign that you have arrived in Sarayama, the small pottery village where Onta ware has been made for around 300 years.