Tea bowl exhibition · Kissabō

Katsura-gama

Raku tea bowls from KyotoOn the shelf at Kissabō from 15 November 2026. Each bowl is for sale.

FromSunday 15 November 2026, 14:00

WhereOn the shelf at Kissabō, Kopenhagener Str. 16, Berlin — map

HoursWednesday to Sunday, 14:00–18:00 · walk in, no booking

First morningStill Hours with Rumi Higaki, Sunday 15 November, 10:00–12:00 · ten seats, 49 €, booked ahead

A tea bowl, glowing white, drawn from the open kiln at Katsura-gama with long iron tongs — At the kiln, Katsura-gama, Kyoto

The kiln

Katsura-gama is a Raku kiln in Nishikyō-ku, on the western edge of Kyoto, run by the Higaki family. Its founder came from Awaji Island and made decorative roof tiles for shrines; with the same technique he went on to make clay braziers, the kind a kettle sits on in a tea room, and that was how the kiln began.

Its bowls are made for tea: each begins as a ball of clay, is shaped by hand and carved thin, then fired in the Raku way — drawn from the kiln with tongs while it still glows. Raku ware was born in Kyoto in the sixteenth century, for the Way of Tea. A Raku bowl is light in the hand and soft at the rim.

The bowls

Wild Chrysanthemum: a black Raku tea bowl painted with small white chrysanthemums — Wild Chrysanthemum

Mt. Fuji: an amber Raku tea bowl with Mt. Fuji carved into the wall — Mt. Fuji

Six Gourds: a red Raku tea bowl painted with white gourds — Six Gourds

Old Pine Black: a black Raku tea bowl with an old pine tree — Old Pine Black

Red Longevity: a red Raku tea bowl — Red Longevity

Bamboo Forest: a black Raku tea bowl with white bamboo stems and leaves — Bamboo Forest

Some of the designs, photographed at the kiln; the bowl on the shelf may look different from the one shown.

The bowls were made in the Katsura-gama workshop under the direction of Rumi Higaki. From 15 November they are on our shelf, where they can be picked up and held. Each comes in its paulownia box, inscribed by Rumi Higaki, and each is for sale.

Questions about a bowl: info@kissabo.com.

The first morning

Rumi Higaki in kimono, kneeling in the tea room at Katsura-gama, a kettle and bowls beside her — Rumi Higaki in the tea room at Katsura-gama

On Sunday 15 November, 10:00–12:00, before we open, there is a Still Hours morning with Rumi Higaki. She is of the family that runs Katsura-gama and directs its workshop; she practises tea in the Urasenke tradition.

She serves the first bowls of tea and talks about the kiln and its bowls, in Japanese with an English translation. The kiln’s Raku bowls are handed round to hold; the tea itself comes in our bowls or ones she brings. Then the tray: the season’s dessert, a wagashi and a pot you steep yourself. Ten seats, 49 €.

Hold a seat →

Photographs: Katsura-gama · @katuragama