I received my shigaraki teapot fairly quick and was excited to see it. The clay has a wonderful warmth, color, and texture to it. The pot shape and size are perfect for my intentions. The inner ball filter is immaculately done, especially given the challenges of doing thin, articulate work with more groggy clay. The wall thickness was uniform throughout the pot and the lid sat snug in its seat atop the teapot.
Only.....the spout of this pot is extremely turned. As many know, some Japanese teapot spouts of side-handled kyusu (some Taiwanese pots too) are turned inward to aid in the swing and flow of the pour. My Shimizu Ken pot has a slight turn, as does one other Japanese side-handle kyusu I own. But this shigaraki pot's spout angle is
extremely turned.
When I got the pot I took some cool water and did a pour test. No water leaked out the lid and the stream from pot came out fairly smooth. However, not without breaking (I teach Chinese gong fu, specifically Neijia/internal arts and have a very aligned sense of body structure) the wrist at an odd angle, which causes the the elbow, and thus the shoulder to have to come up to compensate for the broken wrist, does the pot resist, to some degree, dripping from the spout.
I prefer to hold my kyusus, especially smaller one's, with a particular one-handed grip (拿法）, both for comfort and for aesthetic and kinesthetic reasons. I was going to take pictures but decided not to. The spout is really turned; in fact, the spout is turned so much that it also takes away from the beauty of the piece for me.
I generally pour a "dry" session, meaning I like a pot that doesn't leak from the lid, has a nice balance in the hand, and doesn't drip／dribble from the spout. Coming from the traditions of Taiwanese chayi, pots are expected to have certain performance in line with their tea-influencing and artistic merits. When we evaluate teapots at the teahouse, these performance aspects are often the first thing checked.
I contacted Akira Hojo about this and he agreed that the spouts are excessively turned and mentioned he once asked Masaki Tachi about this and that he was told it was to aid the pour. I have multiple side-handle kyusu that pour much better and are more of joy to use; their spouts are all either straight or only
slightly turned. Hojo said that he too feels that the spouts are excessively turned and that he has some uncertainty around the decision of Masaki Tachi to make the spouts at such an extreme angle:
“To be honest, I too feel that the angle made by Masaki Tachi is a little too extreme. I was trying to adapt the way he designed and did not tell him very strictly. I guess it is time I need to tell him to improve it or I shall stop dealing with him. For the rest of artists in my lineup, the spout is almost straight." Akira Hojo
Hojo was in agreement with my observations and also very gracious. So, I am returning my shigaraki teapot to Hojo for a refund.
Blessings!
