Kiyomizu-yaki, the kilns of Kyoto

Kiyomizu-yaki takes its name from the slopes below the Kiyomizu-dera temple, where kilns have fired tea ware for the city's tea masters since the Edo period. The style is not one look: it is a standard of finish that Kyoto's workshops hold each other to.

A Kiyomizu yunomi or sake set is thrown thin, glazed in seasonal motifs, and often signed. Seventh generation workshops sell pieces that cost less than a mass market import, because you are buying from the kiln, not from a chain of middlemen.

On 1VIM, Kyoto's makers pin their own workshops on the map. The landed price of a tea cup from Kyoto to your country is on the listing before you pay, duties included.