[Akatada ware]
One style of Japanese pottery made in Nara city, Nara prefecture. The Akahada ware is one of the traditional crafts of Nara and its kiln is one of the best seven kilns selected by Enshu KOBORI, a famous Japanese Tea master. Basically, Akahada ware is ash glazed pottery and it has traditional drawings called “Narae" on surface.
From ancient times, Mt Akahada in the south-east of Heijokyo contained good quality clay which contains a considerable amount of Red Iron Oxide.
The load of Koriyama domain, Hidenaga TOYOTOMI who was the younger brother of Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI invited skillful potters from Owari Province and established kiln at Mt. Akahada. Later then, Ninsei,a famous potter in Kyoto, guided Akahada ware potters and the kiln developed under the patronage of the Koriyama loads. In the end of Edo period, the great potter Mokuhaku OKUDA created Ninsei-utsushi wares and Akahada ware got to be known all over Japan.

Narae is a drawing based on "the E Ingakyo” which was compiled to pass down the life of Buddha in an accessible way by adding illustrations to "Kako Genzai Ingakyo Sutra," which is a biography of Buddha describing events stretching from his good conduct in his previous life to his spiritual enlightenment in this.
Dolls, houses, scenery of Nara, deers and other patterns were painted between 2 lines with colorful paints such as white pigment,cinnabar,green and gold/silver leaf.
[Rakusai ONISHI]
A potter who is the master of an Akahada ware kiln, “Kouhaku kiln” in Yamato-gun, Nara prefecture. The name has been succeeded from the first generation Rakusai to the present master, the7th generation Rakusai.
The Onishi family had been potters from generation to generation. Load Yanagisawa, the load of Koriyama Domain, gave them both the kiln name “Kouhaku kiln” and the art name “Rakusai” to keep techniques invented by Mokuhaku OKUDA, the founder of a Akahada ware renaissance in the end of Edo period and established the kiln in Takada where was a Keihaku’s hometown near the Koriyama Castle. Keeping traditional methods and their　secret glazes, Rakusai in each generations has created ash-glazed or Hagi-glazed tea usentils such as chawan, flower vaces, incense containers with beautiful Nara e paintings.
-The Sixth Generation Rakusai
A skillful potter who showed his pottery performance to Showa Emperor. He won many prizes at the Nitten Exhibition and other exhibitions and held his personal exhibitions every year at well-known department stores.
He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays in 1990.
-The Seventh Generation Rakusai (the Present master)
Born in 1958. After his graduation from Konan University, he refined his skills under his grandfather, the 5th Rakusai. He has held many exhibitions in various cities in Japan since his first exhibition in 1998.
He succeeded his father’s name in 2005 and was awarded the title “Kasuga Onkawarakeshi (an earthen ware potter)” by Kasugataisya Shrine in Nara. In 2008, he created and presented containers for confectionery to Emperor and Empress.