Wheel Throwing Tools: Japanese
Descriptions & Explanations - Traditional Japanese Clay Tools
Now that you have a full complement of throwing tools, it's time to get fancy and explore traditional Japanese pottery tools made out of bamboo, wood and iron.
Your pottery tools are working fine, but you can’t help being attracted to some of the nifty traditional Japanese tools you see at the pottery supply store and on-line, and dwell on the exciting possibilities they offer.
Generally fashioned out of fast-growing bamboo or wood, these tools have a natural feel that is highly appealing. While most are Japanese versions of familiar tools in the West, some are inventions unique to Japanese pottery.
- Gyubera – These “cow’s tongues” are long sled-shaped bamboo ribs used to compress the bottoms and shape the sides of straight-sided bowls. They are a traditional tool from Arita, Kyushu.
- Marugote – These are round, shallow clam shell-shaped bamboo ribs used to shape the sides of curved bowls. They can also be used to compress the bottoms of thrown forms.
- Dango – Similar to wooden ribs, these leaf-shaped bamboo ribs are used to shape and smooth the surfaces of a pot.
- Takebera - These bamboo trimming and modeling "knives" are available in several different shapes for carving, cleaning up wet pots, cutting, and for sgraffito.
- Tombo – “Dragonflies” are the functional equivalent of Western calipers with an added feature. Suspended from a takebera or balanced on the rim of a pot, these delicate bamboo tools are used for measuring both the diameter and the depth of thrown forms.
- Yumi – A yumi is a wire and bamboo trimming harp that doubles as a fluting tool. It is used to cut off uneven or torn rims as well as to facet leatherhard forms.
- Tsurunokubi – These “crane’s necks” are s-curved Japanese wooden throwing sticks used to shape the interiors of narrow-necked pieces such as bottles and certain vases.
- Kanna – Kanna are cutting, carving and incising tools made of iron that are used to trim pieces, for carving, sgraffito and to scrape off excess glaze.
- Tsuchikaki – A large looped ribbon tool made of iron that can be used for trimming as well as carving.
- Umakaki – A trimming harp that is used to level flat, wide surfaces such as the bottom of a shallow dish or plate.
- Kushi – Not strictly a throwing tool, these combs are used to score a minimum of 2 decorative parallel lines on pot surfaces. The largest combs have about 20 teeth.
- Take Bon Bon – Not a throwing tool, but a Japanese slip-trailer. A take bon bon is a high-capacity bamboo bottle with a spout from which slip and glaze can be poured out in a steady, controlled stream so the potter can “draw” with it.
For descriptions and explantions of tools used in a typical studio in the West, please read Wheel Throwing Tools: Basic Kit and Wheel Throwing Tools: Beyond Basic.
Curious for more? Please visit the article archives and e-mail me with your questions.
The copyright of the article Wheel Throwing Tools: Japanese in Pottery is owned by Jennifer Yap. Permission to republish Wheel Throwing Tools: Japanese must be granted by the author in writing.
