Hagi Ware Sake Set, Tsubakishu Kiln

Last updated: 18 October 2026

The seven changes

Hagi ware is fired at a relatively low temperature with a soft, thick glaze over a coarse open-bodied clay. As the pot cools, the glaze and the clay contract at different rates, and the glaze crazes into a network of fine cracks. Potters call that crackle kannyu.

Those cracks are open. Over months and years of use, tea or sake seeps in and stains the glaze from underneath. The surface darkens and warms, and the crackle shows as a web of fine lines. Potters call the change nanabake, the seven changes, and it is why people who care about Japanese ceramics rate Hagi so highly.

Two things follow. A Hagi cup is not finished when you buy it, because the person who drinks from it is the one who finishes it. And after a year it will not look like the photograph, which is the intention rather than a defect.

Where it comes from

The craft began in Hagi during the Keicho era, roughly 1596 to 1615. Two Korean potter brothers, Ri Shakko and Ri Kei, established a kiln there as the official kiln of the Mori domain, making tea ware in the Korai style. Hagi has been a tea-ceramics town ever since.

Tea practitioners rank the wares in a saying, ichi Raku, ni Hagi, san Karatsu: first Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu. Being placed second only to Raku, the ware made for the tea ceremony itself, is about as high a standing as a Japanese pottery tradition holds.

This set comes from the Tsubakishu Kiln at Hagi Toen, in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast of Honshu.

What you get for £32

Thirty-two pounds for three hand-finished pieces from a named kiln is unusually good value, and the reason is that Hagi is a working regional pottery rather than a luxury export. The glaze runs differently on every piece, so the lavender falls across the cream in a different place on each cup.

Three pieces, not one

A lot of what gets sold as a sake gift is a single cup in a box. This is a service: a tokkuri to pour from and two cups to pour into, which is how sake is actually drunk, because in Japan you fill the other person's cup and they fill yours.

That makes it a natural wedding or anniversary present, since it is explicitly a set for two people rather than an object for one. It also makes it a better housewarming gift than a single cup, for the same reason.

Using it, and looking after it

Sake is served cold, at room temperature or warmed, and a ceramic tokkuri handles all three. To warm it, stand the filled carafe in hot water rather than putting it near direct heat.

Wash by hand and let it dry fully before putting it away, because the open clay body holds moisture. A pot put away damp can develop a smell over time, and that is the one genuine maintenance point with Hagi ware. Rinse after use, dry properly, and the seven changes take care of themselves.

Do not scrub the crackle. The staining is the feature you paid for.

Hagi ware sake set FAQs

What is Hagi ware?

A Japanese pottery tradition from Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture, dating to the Keicho era, 1596 to 1615, and made for the tea ceremony. It is known for a soft crackled glaze over an open clay body.

What is nanabake?

The seven changes. It describes the way tea or sake works into the fine crackle in the glaze over years of use, shifting the colour and character of the pot so that a well-used piece looks quite different from a new one.

How much is the set and what is in it?

£32 at Iromizu for a 300ml carafe and two 70ml cups, in a gift box.

Is the crackle a fault?

No. It is created deliberately by the difference in how the glaze and the clay contract as they cool, and it is what allows the pot to change with use. A Hagi pot without crackle would be the odd one.

Can you put it in the dishwasher?

Hand wash, and dry it thoroughly before storing. The clay body is porous and holds moisture, so a piece put away damp can develop a smell.

Can you warm sake in the carafe?

Yes, by standing the filled tokkuri in hot water. Avoid direct heat, which is hard on any low-fired ceramic.

Will my set look like the photograph?

Broadly, but the glaze is applied as a drip and runs differently on every piece, so the line where the lavender meets the cream falls in a different place each time.

More from CoolCuration

• Gifts for Japan lovers: the full guide, past the obvious souvenirs.
• Wabi-Sabi: the book that explains why a crackled glaze counts as beauty rather than damage.
• Gifts for homebodies: presents for people whose best evenings happen indoors.
• Sentia Cask: something else to pour, for anyone drinking less.
• Non-alcoholic drinks compared: what to pour on the nights you would rather not drink.

Prices and stock change. Everything here was checked on 6 September 2026 against Iromizu's own product page, which is also the source for the kiln, the dimensions and the account of the Keicho-era founding.

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