Mikawachi Ware
For over four hundred years, Mikawachi ware has been carried forward through generations.
The white porcelain once presented to the Shogun embodies extraordinary craftsmanship refined over generations, along with a quiet aesthetic sensibility long treasured in Japan.
What lives within each piece is not only the touch of the artisan’s hand, but the story of a culture passed down through time.
Hirado Etsuzan is a kiln whose history reaches back to the Edo period. Its techniques, carefully passed down within the family from one generation to the next, are now being carried forward by Hitomi Imamura, the next, 15th generation.
Surrounded by craftsmanship from an early age, Hitomi learned the techniques of Mikawachi ware from her father, Hitoshi Imamura. From white porcelain vessels and zodiac figurines to the traditional Shitadashi Sanbaso doll, whose making has been handed down through generations, she preserves the techniques she inherited while bringing her own sensibility to her work.
The history of the Imamura family is deeply intertwined with the history of Mikawachi ware itself. When the Hirado domain established its kiln in Mikawachi in the 17th century, Hitomi’s ancestors were involved in developing white porcelain and establishing porcelain-making techniques in the region. As master craftsmen and officials of the domain kiln, they helped lay the foundations of Mikawachi ware.
To take the skills inherited from her father, make them her own, and carry them into the next generation.
Through Hitomi’s hands, a tradition nearly 400 years old continues to evolve into new forms of expression for contemporary life.
A Craft That Crossed the Sea
The Shitadashi Sanbaso doll has been made at Kakufusa since the Edo period.
This distinctive white porcelain figure has an ingenious mechanism: its head turns, and its tongue extends. The technique behind it has been carefully preserved and passed down within the family from one generation to the next.
When one of these figures was exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exposition, it caught the attention of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who purchased it.
More than 150 years have passed since white porcelain created in a small kiln in Mikawachi crossed the sea and captivated people in Europe.
Yet the technique has never disappeared. It continues to be passed down today.
The white porcelain of Kakufusa once traveled from Mikawachi to Europe. Now, through Hitomi’s hands, its story continues into a new generation.
Hirado Etsuzan Collection
Fusanosuke Imamura is a ceramic artist born and raised in Mikawachi.
From an early age, the kiln where his parents worked was part of his everyday life. He grew up eating from white porcelain vessels made by his father, surrounded by clay and ceramics. Fusanosuke later learned wheel throwing in Arita, trained in Kyoto, and eventually returned home.
Experiencing other ceramic traditions gave him a new appreciation for what makes Mikawachi ware distinctive.
Fusanosuke focuses on drawing out the beauty of white porcelain itself, without relying on painted decoration.
What he seeks is a sense of warmth within the purity of white porcelain.
Soft curves, cell-like forms, shapes reminiscent of creatures encountered in the sea — though made entirely of white porcelain, his pieces carry an organic presence, a quiet sense of life.
Warmth held within a quiet white.
Bringing his own sensibility to the techniques and beauty he inherited, Fusanosuke continues to explore new forms of Mikawachi ware.
A Vessel Comes to Life in Use
For Fusanosuke, a vessel is not complete when it leaves the kiln.
It comes to life when it is used — when food is placed upon it, when it becomes part of a table, and when it finds a place in someone’s everyday life.
This idea shapes the way he approaches his work. A vessel is not simply an object to be admired. Its form, curves, and empty space are created with what will eventually be placed inside — and the person who will use it — in mind.
For Fusanosuke, the life of a vessel truly begins after it leaves his hands.
Fusanosuke Collection
A vessel is only complete once food is served on it.
With that belief, Fusanosuke also creates custom tableware for chefs and restaurants.
Shown here are pieces commissioned by a restaurant in Omura, Nagasaki. Working from the chef’s vision for the dish and its presentation, he crafted each piece individually — considering its shape, size, and even the empty space left around the food once it is plated.
Rather than choosing from ready-made tableware, the process begins with the food itself: a vessel created for that dish, and for that restaurant.
Fusanosuke welcomes commissions from restaurants and chefs looking to create tableware specifically for their cuisine.
