Japanese earthenware is said to exhibit the greatest variety of techniques and styles in the world, and today's tableware—much of which is pottery or porcelain—comes in a wide range of shapes and decorative colors.

Earthenware can be categorized in three groups: (1) stoneware, which has a unique, earth-like texture and is best represented by Bizen, Shigaraki, Echizen and Tokoname ware; (2) pottery, with its wide array of glazes and warm, earthy mood, made famous by Oribe and Mino ware for the tea ceremony, rustic Mashiko ware, and Karatsu and Hagi ware reminiscent of the ceramic art of the Korean peninsula; and (3) porcelain, such as Imari ware, known for its effective use of white backgrounds, and Kutani ware, with dazzling colors covering the surface. Whatever the technique, wherever the kiln, earthenware made in Japan has been on a quest for beauty for centuries.

Why the great variety within these groups? For one answer to this question, we must look at the close association between ceramics and the tea ceremony.

The tea ceremony ideals of simplicity and tranquility found their greatest expression in the Momoyama period (late 1500s). These ideals, new at the time, are summed up by the word wabi, meaning tasteful simplicity and tranquil beauty. Tea masters, wanting their utensils to express the wabi spirit, showed their originality and exerted their influence by having artisans make bowls and utensils that seemed almost to "breathe"these ideals.

The tremendously creative artistic energy of the Momoyama period gave new life to Japanese ceramics. This can be seen in: Seto-guro ware, with its starkly black tones created by removing the pottery from the kiln during the firing process; Kiseto ware, with its glistening emotive power; Oribe ware, with its bold shapes and fanciful decorations made with green and iron-based glazes; and austere, unpretentious Shino ware.

Practitioners of the tea ceremony sometimes use a name to personify a utensil they are especially fond of, like a tea bowl, vase, water container or incense box. Giving a ceramic object a name, and therefore an aura of its own, is probably not done anywhere else in the world! This shows the depth of the Japanese affinity for earthenware.