Kyusu/Tea Pot (Sand White)

No strainer insert, no fuss — the lid is the strainer, and the tea pours clean.

The Sand White Kyusu is a shiboridashi-style teapot from NANKEI POTTERY (南景製陶園), made in the Banko-yaki tradition of Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. Shiboridashi is one of the oldest brewing methods in Japan: instead of a removable strainer, fine holes carved into the body and lid catch the leaves as the tea pours — the traditional way of brewing coarser, leaf-forward teas like hojicha or sencha. Because both the body and lid act as the filter, you can wash both sides of the strainer surface directly, which keeps things clean without effort. The clay is blended from an original formula that NANKEI has used for over 50 years.

The pale surface comes from a layer of white clay worked into the body before firing — a colour that lives in the clay rather than sitting on top of it. At 300ml it brews for one to two people, and the shiboridashi design means you can brew directly into the cup if you prefer.

Shipping

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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.