With a long, proud history, Bizen-yaki pottery from Okayama comes from one of Japan’s “six ancient kilns” and enjoys worldwide recognition. Today, a wide variety of techniques are used, but wood firing in large anagama and noborigama kilns are what makes Bizen-yaki famous. Many different products are made, and it is true that, beyond questions of taste and aesthetics, from the technical point of view, there have been no proper Bizen-yaki teapots to rival Tokoname-yaki or even Banko-yaki teapots as tools for tea preparation.
Kobashi Masaaki, still young artisan, has stepped up to address this lack by producing very high quality teapots in a noborigama kiln. Kobashi Masaaki, still a young artisan, has stepped up to address this lack by producing very high quality Bizen-yaki teapots.
After having studied under Kuraishi Fumio, artist-potter and Kagawa University professor, he studied Bizen pottery under the late Takatori Kanzan.
His teapots are fine, light, precise and have painstakingly worked filters, an important feature in the tradition of the artisan Kuraishi Fumio. Depending on their size, these filters can have from 800 to 1000 holes and are designed in such a way that they let infusions pass through as if they were not there. This ensures a lot of fluidity when pouring, even for teas with very fine and broken leaves.
The quality of his teapots is all the more surprising because he only makes, once each year, a few dozen in a large noborigama wood kiln.
This is a fabulous teapot that was wood fired in the Takatori Kanzan noborigama kiln.

Warning: The potter advises that the water should not be over 90 ℃ (194 ℉) when pouring it into the teapot.