Pillar 01
Wheel throwing
Clay is centred on a spinning wheel and opened, pulled and refined in a single wet session. It is the fastest way to a round, symmetrical form — and the hardest to learn well. Cups, bowls and tall vases all start here.
Tokyo ceramics studio
Handmade tableware, thrown and glazed by hand
Studio at a glance
A small working studio in Kuramae where every cup, bowl and vase is wheel-thrown or hand-built, then glazed in short seasonal batches.
- Open hours
- Tue–Sun, 10–18
- Class size
- 6 makers max
- Glaze batches
- 4 per season
- Local pickup
- Taito & east Tokyo
- Call the studio
- +81 3-5822-4713
Our philosophy
Slow hands, small batches, honest clay
Nothing here is pressed from a mould or printed by a machine. Every piece begins as a lump of stoneware clay and is either centred on the wheel or built up by hand, coil by coil.
We glaze in short seasonal runs so each batch carries its own character — a shift in iron here, a breath more ash there. That means your mug may differ, by a hair, from the one beside it. We think that is the point. A handmade object should remember the hand that made it.
- Wheel-thrown and hand-built forms
- Food-safe, lead-free glazes
- Fired twice in our own kiln
The practice
Three ways clay becomes an object
Every piece that leaves the studio passes through one or more of these. Each asks a different kind of patience.
Pillar 02
Hand building
Forms are built without a wheel — from rolled slabs, pinched walls or stacked coils. It allows shapes a wheel cannot make: faceted plates, square dishes and sculptural vessels. Slower, more deliberate, deeply tactile.
Pillar 03
Small-batch glazing
Raw glazes are mixed and tested in small quantities, then brushed, poured or dipped before the final firing. Batch sizes stay low on purpose, so colour stays alive and each season brings a slightly new palette.
From the shelf
Signature stoneware, ready to order
A rotating selection of functional and decorative pieces. Order online for shipping, or reserve for local pickup at the studio.
Tableware
Ash-glaze mug
A rounded everyday mug with a comfortable looped handle and a quiet green ash glaze.
¥3,400 each
Add to order
Tableware
Faceted rice bowl
Hand-carved facets catch the light around a deep bowl made for daily meals.
¥4,200 each
Add to order
Decorative
Single-stem vase
A slender vessel for one cutting, speckled with iron through a clear glaze.
¥5,800 each
Add to order
Tableware
Indigo serving plate
A broad slab-built plate finished in a pooling indigo for sharing dishes.
¥7,600 each
Add to orderBy the numbers
What a season looks like
4 batches
Glaze runs mixed each season
8 wheels
Set along the studio window and floor
1,240 °C
Peak temperature of a glaze firing
3 kilns
Fired in rotation, most weeks
Your first piece
From booking to finished bowl
A new maker’s piece takes a few weeks to travel from wet clay to glazed tableware. Here is the whole path.
-
01
Book your class
Choose a beginner group session online. We hold a wheel, an apron and a seat for you — no experience or tools required.
-
02
Throw and shape
In the studio you centre the clay, open it and pull up the walls with a tutor at your side. You leave with a form drying on the rack.
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03
Trim and dry
Over the following week your piece firms up to leather-hard. We trim a foot, smooth the base and let it dry fully before the first firing.
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04
Glaze and fire
After a bisque firing you pick a glaze and we fire again to full temperature. The finished, food-safe piece is ready for pickup.
Workshops
Choose how you want to learn
Group classes for company and encouragement, or a private wheel for focused, one-on-one time. Every price includes clay, glazes and both firings.
Group
Beginner session
¥5,500 / session
- 2-hour wheel introduction
- Up to 6 makers per class
- One piece fired and glazed
Most popular
Group
Intermediate course
¥24,000 / 4 weeks
- Four weekly sessions
- Trimming and glaze theory
- Take home a full set
Private
One-on-one wheel
¥12,000 / session
- 3-hour private session
- Tailored to your goal
- Up to three pieces fired
Studio membership
Keep a shelf and come back
For makers who have the basics and want to keep going, membership opens the studio on your own schedule.
Members get open studio hours five days a week, a named shelf for work in progress, and firing at a discounted rate. You bring your ideas; we keep the wheels turning, the glazes mixed and the kiln warm.
- Open studio, Tuesday to Saturday
- A named drying shelf of your own
- Discounted bisque and glaze firing
¥9,800 / month
Join the studioCustom commissions
Ceramics made for your room
Cafes, restaurants and homes commission runs of matching pieces tuned to a space, a menu or a mood. We scope it with you, then make it in the studio.
Request a brief-
01
Conversation
We talk through quantity, use, colour and budget, then sketch forms together.
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02
Samples
We throw and glaze a small test set so you can hold the real thing before committing.
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03
Production
On approval we make the full run in batches, keeping each piece consistent.
-
04
Delivery
Finished pieces are inspected, packed and delivered or ready for studio pickup.
In their words
“We ordered a set of mugs and small plates for the cafe, and two years on they still look warmer and sit better in the hand than anything we could have bought wholesale. Guests ask about them every week.”
Inside the studio
A calm, dusty, well-used room
Wheels by the window, racks of drying work, and a kiln that runs most weeks. This is where it all happens.
Stocked & commissioned by
Local cafes and shops
- Tsumugi Coffee Stand
- Kanda Table & Co.
- Hoshi Flower Atelier
- Mori no Pan Bakery
- Aoi Interior Studio
- Nijiiro Teahouse
Good to know
Questions makers ask
None at all for beginner sessions — they are built for first-timers. For the intermediate course we ask that you have thrown on the wheel at least once before, so you can keep pace with the group.
Both. Shop pieces ship anywhere in Japan, carefully packed. Pieces you make in class are available for pickup at the studio once fired, usually within a few weeks.
Drying, two firings and glazing take time. Allow roughly three to four weeks from the day you throw a piece to the day it is ready to take home.
Cancel or reschedule up to 48 hours before a class for a full credit. Within 48 hours we can move you to another date once, subject to space.
For small sets, four to six weeks. Larger cafe or restaurant orders are best started six to eight weeks ahead so there is room for samples and firing.
Visit & book
Come by the studio
We are a short walk from Asakusabashi, tucked into Kuramae. Drop in during open hours, or call ahead to book a wheel.
- 3-11-6 Kuramae, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0051, Japan
- +81 3-5822-4713
- Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–18:00. Closed Mondays.
