Sourcing in Japan Day 2: Meeting my favorite chawan supplier in Osaka
Behind the scenes of: my latest sourcing trip through Kyoto and Okayama. Come and find treasures with me that others overlook.
Yesterday I was at Toji Temple at 5:30 AM at the antique market. Today is slower, quieter, and in some ways more important.
👉 This is Day 2 of my Sourcing Week in Japan series.
Let’s look at some matcha chawan tea bowls that never reached the public markets and the kind of finds that make my trip worthwhile.
New to KAIKO&CO? Start with Day 1 to find out how this trip began, read it here.
10:00 AM - Today I'm heading to Osaka. Not to a shop, but to meet a like minded clay lover, a fellow chawan friend at his home.
We met at Kobo-san market. He was selling chawan from a small stall and I could immediately see his eye was good. Really good. We started talking (his broken English, my broken Japanese), and he mentioned he has other pieces at home.
That's how these relationships start in Japan. Slowly. With trust. Now, whenever I'm in the area, I message him. He pulls aside pieces he thinks I'll like. The best stuff never makes it to the market stalls.
We meet at his home - a peaceful house in a quiet Osaka neighborhood. He greets me with green tea. Then he brings out a box he's been holding for me. Inside: four vintage chawan 🍵
He's chosen these specifically, knowing what I look for. Quality over flash. Pieces with history. He explains what he knows - which kiln, approximate age, where he acquired it. Sometimes he has documentation.
Sometimes it's just knowledge passed from the person who sold it to him. This is how the best pieces are found. Not in shops with price tags. In apartments, over tea, with people who've spent decades learning to recognize quality.
We sit on the floor. I examine each bowl carefully. Turn it over, check the foot, feel the glaze texture, look for maker's marks. He tells me what he knows about each piece - which kiln, approximately when it was made, sometimes who it belonged to.
This context is everything. This is what makes these pieces special beyond their physical beauty.
Now, whenever I'm in the area, I message him. He pulls aside pieces he thinks I'll like. The best stuff never makes it to the market stalls.
12:30 PM - I select three bowls. A chawan in Bizen-yaki with a gorgeous yohen effect. Another one is Hagi-yaki with beautiful crazing already showing light stains. It's been used. That's what I want. Evidence of a life lived with tea. And the third bowl has one of the most amazing green ice-crackled glaze I have ever seen, very unique.
He wraps each bowl carefully in cloth and news paper, the traditional way.
2:00 PM - Before I leave, he mentions a friend who collects kokeshi dolls I might be interested in. Would I like an introduction?
This is how it works in Japan. Trust builds slowly. Relationships open doors.
I will list these lovely chawan in my shop over the next weeks and months so please feel welcome to browse around here:
Next up: [Day 3 → read here] The smaller Kyoto shops. Covered arcades frozen in the 1970s, exceptional haori and a folder from an antique bookstore I was not expecting.