Not any less essential to the creation of a true chawan, is the spirit of the potter. For without an infusion of the craftsman's deep understanding of himself, and of the mysteries of clay and fire, a tea bowl remains an empty shell.

Chawan can be classified into three basic categories, according to country of origin:
China, Korea or Japan.

The Chinese styles include tenmoku wares and the 22 variations on them -- seiji (celadon)hakuji (white porcelain)sometsuke and shonzui (underglaze cobalt blue), aka-e (overglaze red) and iro-e (overglaze enamel), to name just a few.

From Korea there is inlaid celadon, Mishima ware (also inlaid), kohiki-de (white slip), oido ("large well," bowls with a deep "pool"), hakeme (brushed white slip), kata-de (similar to white porcelain), soba (open-faced, rough bowls, the color of buckwheat), kakinoheta (brownish "persimmon" chawan), irabo (yellowish glaze), goshomaru (the prototype of the more famous Oribe ware) -- and many others.

From Japan we find copies of Chinese wares, such as the early Seto wares made during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods; works influenced by Rikyu's wabi-cha tastes, such as Bizen, Shigaraki and Raku; and pottery from Mino Province (part of present-day Gifu Prefecture), including hikidashi-guro, Ki-Seto (Yellow Seto) and Shino ware.

Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), the warrior and celebrated tea master, favored the two native stonewares of Bizen and Shigaraki, as well as Iga ware and Kyushu wares such as Karatsu and Takatori. He also expanded the Mino world with a Mino-Iga hybrid and his own Oribe ware.

The arbiter of tea tastes in the Edo Period was Kobori Enshu, who nominated the "seven kilns" of Takatori, Agano, Akahada, Kosobe, Zeze, Shidoro and Asahi as producers of fine chawan. The same period also saw the creation of colorful, new Kyoto stonewares, such as Ninsei and Kenzan. More information on these and many other lesser-known Japanese styles can be found in "Chawan Kamabetsu Meikan" by Kuroda Kazuya.

The above is all academic information. It enables us to classify and understand the origins of different chawan styles. Yet how does it help us to truly "see" a chawan? What else can we do to really "get" what chawan are all about?

What it all boils down to is very simple and very Zen -- unless you are the sort of person who, when you stand under the wide sky, whatever the weather, is simply not amazed, for there is no difference between that experience and holding a profound chawan. The soul of a chawan will evade such people as thoroughly as if they tried to grasp some mountain mist.

Ultimately, when you pick up a true chawan, you're also grasping a potter's soul, since it takes much more than mere technique to create such a bowl. In the contemporary Japanese ceramic scene, only a handful out of thousands of potters are making chawan that will stand the test of time. One of them is Tsujimura Shiro.

In his latest exhibition -- at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi's sixth-floor gallery from Jan. 14 to 20, 2003 -- Tsujimura is showing mainly one style: simple and deep Ido chawan (see photos at top of page). Of Korean lineage, and dating from the Choson Period, Ido chawan are characterized by a high foot and a wide, flaring body. The color of the glaze is usually a neutral buff tone that perfectly complements the frothy emerald matcha.

Tsujimura has devoted much of his life as a potter to Ido chawan, and a spirituality emanates from these perfectly imperfect chawan. Many of the bowls already have an ancient feel; some are large enough for one's whole face to disappear inside; while others, known as tabi-jawan (traveler's chawan), are only slightly larger than a sake cup. The all-important kodai (foot) is strong on Tsujimura's Ido chawan; while on many there is a delightful crawling quality to the icing-like glaze, known as kairagi.

"Amid our daily bustle, a chawan offers a hand-held sanctuary for deep pondering to refresh the spirit and reunite it again with nature. And right now, indeed, we need such refuge and reflection."