Obori Soma ware is pottery made in Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture. In 1690, Sama, the manservant of the feudal retainer of Oshu field, Obori Village (currently 1-Chome, Obori, Namie), Hangai Nizaemon (Kyukan), learned the techniques of manufacturing pottery at Soma Domain’s kiln (Tashiro kiln), which is located in Nakamura Castle Town (Currently Soma City), and established a kiln in Obori Village.
Obori ware is made from good-quality clay, gathered from Mt. Utsukushimori in Namie Town. As for the glaze, they use a lot of ash glaze, rice husk glaze, ameyu, and black glaze. Their pieces are known to be extremely lightweight because the build of their pieces is generally thin.
This area was blessed with warm climate and good-quality potter’s clay, and was also close to major consuming areas such as Edo, so they shipped many products to them. Obori Soma ware mainly produced everyday items such as bowls, plates, sake bottles, and earthenware teapots. Because they offered low-price, good-quality products, they made a significant change to everyday tableware used in the Tohoku region, where they mainly used lacquerware.
There are two types of pottery referred to as Soma ware; the current Soma Koma ware from Tashiro Kiln in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, and Obori Soma ware. The former is an official kiln and the latter is a private kiln. They are both still developing today.
