Yuzamashi/Pitcher (Matte Black)

The yuzamashi sits between the kettle and the kyusu — its job is to cool boiling water to the temperature where good tea opens up.

Pour from the kettle into the yuzamashi, hold it for a moment, and feel the heat move through the clay into your palm — that is how you know the water is ready. NANKEI POTTERY (南景製陶園) makes this one in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture from iron-rich Banko-yaki stoneware. The matte black surface is dense and unglazed, absorbing no flavour between uses. In about ten seconds, the water drops 10–15 degrees — enough to bring boiling water into the 50–80°C window where gyokuro and fine sencha open fully without bitterness. Between brews, it sits well as a small pitcher or serving vessel.

Matte Black clay is iron-rich and fired without glaze — the surface is dry, slightly mineral, and grows more settled with every use.

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South of Nagoya, along the shore of Ise Bay, Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture has been a centre for Banko-yaki since the eighteenth century. The city's iron-rich clay and long firing tradition gave rise to a distinct stoneware character — dense, unglazed surfaces that age quietly with use. 南景製陶園 (Nankei Pottery) has worked within this tradition for decades, using a proprietary clay formula that has remained unchanged for more than fifty years. High-temperature yakishime firing drives off virtually all porosity, leaving a body that is hard, smooth to the touch, and subtly warm in colour.

The forms Nankei designs are spare and considered — nothing added that does not serve the tea. A kyusu pours cleanly; a yunomi sits without fuss in the hand. That restraint comes not from minimal effort but from sustained attention to proportion and weight. If you want to learn more about the people behind the work, our Behind the Sip article on Nankei Pottery goes further: Nankei Pottery — Banko-yaki in Yokkaichi.