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What goes into a pot?

 What goes into Karatsu ware is of particular importance in giving it its distinctive character, and potters are fastidious about choosing their materials. While other pottery centers have streamlined and specialized their material processing and production processes, many Karatsu area potters individually build their own wood fueled kiln, collect their own materials from the surrounding mountains, crush and levigate the stones and clay, burn plant material to make their own ash, and mix their own clay and glazes using all of these materials they processed themselves. They then form and decorate the pots, apply glazes, and load and fire the kiln, always with the primary goal of bringing out the natural beauty of the materials.

By eschewing modern technology, and controlling all aspects of the pottery making process themselves, Karatsu potters may not necessarily achieve the highest efficiency, however this approach is the key to creating one of a kind works of art based on the rich variation of glazes, decoration, and form found in the example of old Karatsu ceramic ware, the creation of which would be otherwise impossible with modern mass production technology.