Concept of Shibayaki

Wherever the use of firewood as a fuel for firing ceramic products, can be called Shibayaki, works can be divided into two categories of glazed (underglaze) and unglazed (natural glaze), such as the Song Dynasty Tianmu bowl and celadon glaze, are glazed, Japan's preparation for the front of the burner is unglazed (to take its natural fall ash effect). Shibayaki is an ancient technique, and the kiln firing is quite difficult. The success or failure of a Shibayaki piece depends on the relationship between clay, fire, wood and kiln.　Clay: The clay used for Shiba-yaki is made by the potter himself, taking into account the heat-resistant temperature of the clay, the properties of the kiln, and the total type of firewood; the pursuit is to make the clay produce a warm, thick, calm and restrained beauty of Shiba-yaki.　Firewood: Generally, the wood needs to be left to stand for about three to six months or more (avoiding too much moisture) to facilitate combustion, and its types include camphor, longan, lychee, lotus seed, and discarded wood.　Kiln: Burning wood only to provide heat energy, the kiln generally takes three to five days, during which time the wood needs to be thrown in shifts without rest, the speed and way of adding wood, the total type of fuel wood, the weather conditions, air intake, and other subtle factors are constantly affecting the color and luster of the works inside the kiln.　Ash: When pottery is fired in a wood-fired kiln, the fully burned ash is extremely light and disperses with the hot air currents. When the temperature reaches over 1,200°C, the wood ash begins to melt, and the iron in the ash causes the iron in the pottery to form a glaze, which takes on different color variations. The glaze formed in this way is called "natural ash glaze", natural ash glaze at first glance does not look very eye-catching, but the more you look at the more durable is the fascinating Shibayaki works.