Sencha320 Kyusu/Tea Pot (Matte Cream White)

Warm ivory lines that soften the table — a kyusu that earns its place by brewing well and looking calm doing it.

The Sencha320 Kyusu from NANKEI POTTERY (南景製陶園) is a linear, shallow-body teapot made in the Banko-yaki tradition of Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. The flat, wide form was designed to let tea leaves spread fully as they steep — important for green teas where leaf surface contact matters. Flow is smooth, cleaning is easy, and the stable base makes pouring straightforward. At 320ml it brews one to four servings. Pour slowly; the linear form rewards a deliberate hand.

Matte Cream White is fired from a revival of hakudei — "white mud" — a Banko-yaki clay blend from the Taisho era that NANKEI reformulated. The pale greyish-beige tone softens with the table setting, and the unglazed interior lets the surface texture moderate astringency and build depth with each brew. With regular use the exterior slowly develops a warm, quiet patina.

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South of Nagoya, along the shore of Ise Bay, Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture has been a centre for Banko-yaki since the eighteenth century. The city's iron-rich clay and long firing tradition gave rise to a distinct stoneware character — dense, unglazed surfaces that age quietly with use. 南景製陶園 (Nankei Pottery) has worked within this tradition for decades, using a proprietary clay formula that has remained unchanged for more than fifty years. High-temperature yakishime firing drives off virtually all porosity, leaving a body that is hard, smooth to the touch, and subtly warm in colour.

The forms Nankei designs are spare and considered — nothing added that does not serve the tea. A kyusu pours cleanly; a yunomi sits without fuss in the hand. That restraint comes not from minimal effort but from sustained attention to proportion and weight. If you want to learn more about the people behind the work, our Behind the Sip article on Nankei Pottery goes further: Nankei Pottery — Banko-yaki in Yokkaichi.