Japanese Sanuki folk art Soke “Ikkan-bari” Small Individual Plates Set of 5

◆    What is Ikkan-bari?

Approximately 500 years ago, Ikkan-bari was created by Hiki Ikkan, a priest of the Ming dynasty. Put Japanese paper on a basket or plate woven from bamboo and apply persimmon astringency to finish it. It is a traditional craft of Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture. The feature is to use old books on Japanese paper, and Kakishibu (Persimmon tannin) (especially has been aged for five years) is applied to this, dried, and then repeated the same process. It takes almost a month to complete one product because the process of using it once and drying it in the shade is repeated dozens of times to give it a unique glossy color.

The product is individual plates. It is popular because the more you use it, the more texture it gets. All are handmade, so no one is the same. Recently, it has become known nationwide because of the demands of Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress.

◆    Consistent storage method:

Although it is produced for resistant moisturization, please avoid moisture as much as possible. If you want to put food on it, spread it with a paper napkin. If you polish it with a dry cloth or a cloth with a bit of olive oil, the products will get an even deeper color. 

Kakishibu gets deep black tea color from light brown year by year. Please use it for a long time.

These works were created by the 5th generation Manmanan Ikkansai （Ken Nishitani）

Ref # 5