Nanabake is a description of change through use, not a seven-step colour chart. The Hagi Pottery Cooperative explains the term through the pottery’s absorbent body and fine surface crazing, called kannyu. Its account helps separate that process from a promise about how a particular vessel will age.
Technique and structure
The cooperative says Hagi pottery’s body has water absorption and permeability, and that substances from use enter through surface crazing and gradually alter the glaze’s appearance. It calls this cha-nare or Hagi no nanabake. The important structural point is the relationship between the body, the surface fissures and use, rather than a prescribed succession of seven colours. This general explanation does not establish whether a particular crack in an individual vessel is an expected glaze feature or damage requiring the maker’s assessment.
Drying is part of the care
The cooperative’s after-use instructions call for washing away residues with water or household detergent, then drying thoroughly before storage. It warns that storing a partly dried piece can cause mould and odour. Enjoying gradual visual change is therefore not an instruction to leave a used vessel dirty or damp.
For international readers
Ask the maker about the selected piece’s condition and care. This account does not establish microwave, dishwasher or other heat compatibility, or guarantee that each glaze will change in the same way.
Global shipping and buying
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日本語
萩焼の七化け：貫入と使うことで生じる変化
萩焼協同組合は、吸水性・浸透性を持つ胎土と表面の貫入を通じ、使用成分が浸み込んで釉調が変わる様子を「萩の七化け」と説明します。必ず七つの決まった段階を経るという意味には読み替えません。使用後は洗って十分に乾かしてから収納するのが同組合の案内です。この一般説明から、個々のひびが安全か、電子レンジに対応するかは判断しません。