Sayado Wadagama

Everyday pottery, made by hand in Mashiko since 2007.

Sayado Wadagama (道祖土和田窯) is a pottery workshop in Sayado, a part of Mashiko where clay for pottery has long been dug and where many kilns still work. Our craftspeople make rice bowls, plates, cups, and teaware for daily life, finished in the traditional glazes of Mashiko.

Good tools for daily life

"用があって形がうまれ、形があってはじめて美が具わる"

"Form follows purpose, and beauty follows form."

These words by Yoshimichi Goda are the guiding idea of Sayado Wadagama. By a good tool, we mean one you use without thinking about it, and grow more attached to the longer you live with it. We put use first, and we take responsibility for the materials we receive from nature.

A workshop of craftspeople

We work on the site of the former Goda Pottery Institute, founded in Sayado in 1981 by Yoshimichi Goda, a painter, calligrapher, and potter who taught many aspiring potters in Mashiko. When Goda died in 2000, the institute closed. Yasuo Wada, who had worked alongside him, stayed and kept making pottery there. Wada chose to spend his life as a craftsman rather than an artist, and the craftspeople who work there today carry on that way of working.

We have worked as Sayado Wadagama since 2007. People who knew Goda sometimes ask why we are not called Goda Kiln. The answer is in our name: we want to be a group of craftspeople.

Our glazes and how we make them

We use the six traditional glazes of Mashiko and mix each one ourselves. Read about them, and about how a piece is made, in Our Glazes & Making.

Where to buy

This shop delivers within Japan only. From outside Japan, a selection of our pottery is available from TOKO ONLINE GALLERY, which ships internationally. In Mashiko, you can see and buy our pottery at Toko Gallery on Jonaizaka. For details and care, see Where to Buy & Care.