Yunomi/Tea Cup (Sakura Sumi Crackle Glaze)

Cherry blossom pink traced with ink-black cracks — a cup that carries its own quiet story.

The Sakura Sumi Yunomi from NANKEI POTTERY (南景製陶園) is a small, palm-fitting tea cup made in the Banko-yaki tradition of Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. The glaze is a warm cherry-blossom pink (sakura) — and the surface is crossed with kannyu, the fine cracks that form naturally when clay and glaze shrink at different rates during cooling. NANKEI deepens these cracks by hand with India ink (sumi), tracing the glaze's fracture lines in black to create the sumi-kannyu pattern. With use, new cracks emerge and the ink works deeper into the surface — the cup accumulates its own history. Because the glaze has slight water absorption, darker teas will gradually tint the kannyu lines; this is considered part of the character.

At 100ml, it holds the right amount for a single pour of gyokuro or a concentrated sencha — the warm sakura base sets off the gold-green of the tea.

Shipping

• Japan: ¥800 flat rate — free shipping on orders over ¥15,000.
• Asia: from ¥2,500 — free on orders over ¥25,000.
• EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada: from ¥3,500 — free on orders over ¥35,000.

※Shipping rates for apparel and other goods vary by product and destination (shown at checkout). Please see our shipping policy for full details.

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.