{"product_id":"imperial-theme-matcha-bowl-by-ito-yu-hachioji-kiln-chawan-kuruma-with-signed-box","title":"Imperial Theme Matcha Bowl by Ito Yu - Hachioji Kiln Chawan Kuruma with Signed Box","description":"Experience authentic Japanese tea culture with this Imperial Theme Matcha Bowl. This Japanese Matcha Chawan serves as a Hachioji Kiln Pottery and Crackle Glaze Tea Bowl, featuring Wabi Sabi Ceramic artistry and Imperial Poetry Theme—a must-have for any Art Collector seeking Zen Tea Accessories and Tea Ceremony Bowl.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Ito Yu (伊藤優) — Hachioji Kiln (八王子窯)\u003cbr\u003e• Technique: Layered glaze with exposed clay band and extensive crazing (kannyu)\u003cbr\u003e• Era: Contemporary (Heisei–Reiwa period)\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan\u003cbr\u003e• Theme: Imperial New Year Poetry Topic \"Kuruma\" (車, Vehicle\/Wheel)\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: Diameter approx. 13.5 cm, Height approx. 7.5 cm\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Signed tomobako with artist seal (共箱・印)\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Excellent — no chips or cracks; box lid shows minor sun fading\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Utakai Hajime (歌会始) is the annual New Year Poetry Reading held at the Imperial Palace, where the Emperor announces a theme (chokudai\/勅題) that poets across Japan compose upon. This bowl by Ito Yu takes the Imperial theme \"Kuruma\" (車, vehicle or wheel) as its creative departure point — a practice where ceramic artists translate the year's poetic theme into clay, glaze, and form. The result is a tea bowl that participates in the same cultural conversation as the poets of the Imperial court.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bowl's most striking feature is its horizontal banding: a warm cream-white crackled glaze covers the upper and lower portions, while a raw, unglazed band of dark clay wraps the midsection like an exposed horizon line. This deliberate contrast between refined surface and raw earth creates a visual tension — polished and primal in the same vessel. The crazing across the glazed surfaces is dense and fine, creating a web that will deepen with use as tea seeps into the fissures over time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*\"The wheel turns. The glaze cracks. Between refinement and raw earth, the bowl finds its center.\"*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Imperial Poetry and Ceramics**: The tradition of creating tea bowls inspired by the Imperial poetry theme connects chanoyu to Japan's oldest literary institution. Each year, the announced theme becomes a creative prompt not only for poets but for ceramic artists, lacquer workers, and textile dyers. A bowl inscribed with the year's chokudai carries temporal specificity — it belongs to a particular year's cultural conversation, making it both a functional vessel and a time capsule.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**The Layered Glaze Technique**: Ito Yu's approach to this bowl is architecturally conceived. Rather than applying a uniform glaze, the artist deliberately leaves the clay exposed in a central band, creating three distinct visual zones. The white crackled glaze above and below frames the raw earth between them. This technique requires precise masking during glazing and confident kiln placement to ensure the unglazed zone fires cleanly without unwanted ash deposits.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Crazing as Character**: The extensive network of fine cracks across both glazed zones is not a defect but a feature integral to the bowl's identity. This kannyu (貫入) develops when the glaze contracts at a different rate than the clay body during cooling. Over years of tea use, matcha liquid will seep into these cracks, gradually darkening them and creating a patina unique to each bowl's history — the Seven Changes (七化け) principle applied to a contemporary form.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Hachioji Kiln**: Located in western Tokyo, the Hachioji area has maintained ceramic traditions that draw on the creative energy of the capital while retaining artisan independence. Ito Yu's work demonstrates a contemporary sensibility — bold compositional choices that honor traditional materials and firing methods while pushing aesthetic boundaries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【基本情報】\u003cbr\u003e• 作家：伊藤優（八王子窯）\u003cbr\u003e• 技法：層状施釉（貫入釉＋無釉帯）\u003cbr\u003e• 時代：現代（平成〜令和）\u003cbr\u003e• 産地：東京都八王子\u003cbr\u003e• 銘：因勅題「車」\u003cbr\u003e• 寸法：口径約13.5cm、高さ約7.5cm\u003cbr\u003e• 付属：共箱（印入り）\u003cbr\u003e• 状態：良好（箱蓋に日焼け跡あり）\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【解説】\u003cbr\u003e歌会始の勅題を茶碗に写す——これは茶陶と和歌という二つの日本文化の柱を一碗の上で交差させる営みです。伊藤優は「車」の題を、器の構造そのものに翻訳しました。上下の白い貫入釉と、中央の露出した素地の帯が三層を成し、まるで車輪の回転が生み出す地平線のような視覚効果を生んでいます。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e白釉に走る細かな貫入は、使い込むほどに茶渋が染み入り、時間とともに独自の表情を刻んでいきます。七化けの原理を現代的な造形言語で再解釈した、知的で大胆な一碗です。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ SHIPPING \u0026amp; PACKAGING ]\u003cbr\u003e• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days\u003cbr\u003e• Carrier: Japan Post EMS \/ UPS (with tracking)\u003cbr\u003e• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*Between glaze and bare earth, the Imperial theme finds its vessel — turning endlessly, like the wheel it names.*","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61609684205938,"sku":"260220_2006","price":478.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m64720933882_1.jpg?v=1771560887","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/imperial-theme-matcha-bowl-by-ito-yu-hachioji-kiln-chawan-kuruma-with-signed-box","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}