Traditional Raku white clay, Cobalt oxide, Manganese nodule of Okinawa Island, Black Raku glaze (Kamo River stone), natural wood ash glaze, Fired in Black Raku kiln

Hatō (Great Wave in Ocean) is a yakinuki Black Raku tea bowl by Raku Kichizaemon XV, now Raku Jikinyū. Exceptionally large for Jikinyū’s distinctive boat-shaped tea bowls, Hatō has an elongated, swelling body whose curving profile and irregular rim give the vessel a pronounced sense of movement. Hand-building remains visible in the uneven mouth and subtly shifting contours, preserving traces of the artist’s touch within the monumental form.

Made from traditional Raku white clay, the bowl combines Black Raku glaze derived from Kamo River stone with natural wood ash glaze. Manganese nodules from Okinawa and cobalt oxide were applied in bold, gestural brushwork, producing passages of black, cream, brown, and blue that move across the surface and reinforce the energy suggested by the bowl’s title.

Jikinyū had explored the boat-shaped form for many years, including in Hekikai Mugen of 2003. Fourteen years later, Hatō demonstrates the continuing evolution of the type: related in conception, yet markedly different in modeling and surface. Created among the final works Jikinyū made as Kichizaemon XV before his 2019 retirement from the Raku family headship, the bowl brings together sustained formal exploration, forceful gesture, and the expressive possibilities of yakinuki firing.