Yamagata Pear Glaze Chawan

This chawan crafted by Hidekazu Nakamura is a part of a small collection of ceramics he made for our shop in November 2025, at his studio in Tsuruoka, Yamagata.

La France is a varietal of pear that originally came from France that is currently very popular in Japan. It is grown by many farmers in Yamagata, a region famous for its bounty of beautiful fruits. During the winter farmers prune the branches of the pear trees. Then, at the end of March in early spring, they burn them to make ash. The farmers then spread this ash onto their fields as fertilizer.

Mr. Hidekazu received some of this ash and mixed it with feldspar to create a special “pear glaze” that speaks poetically of his home, Yamagata. The delicate, matte, oxidized looking surface of this chawan is strangely and perfectly reminiscent of a Bosc pear. At its base it even gives way to an earthy green hue, and then the dark brown of the clay begins to appear unevenly — as though we had reached the stem, and then the branch of the pear tree.

** Please note that, as each chawan is made by hand and naturally fired, they differ slightly in size, shape, colorations, and tone. The actual item you receive may have slight variations to the one photographed; these variations are an intentional part of this collection.