What is touki, a Japanese craft word, in English?

陶器【touki】
Pottery
Ceramic
Stoneware

The Japanese word, touki, which is pottery or ceramic, is an improvement over earthenware. Clay is given a shape such as a vessel and fired at about 800℃ to 1200℃.

 

Since the clay molded is not fully fired and remains absorbent, the potter must apply a glassy glaze to the surface. Compared to porcelain, it generally feels softer and warmer. The traditional production areas of the Hokuriku region are Etchu Seto ware, Suzu ware, and Echizen ware.

 

The origin of word Pottery comes from “pot”. A person who makes deep, round pots came to be called a potter, and the workshop of a potter, and by extension, the work or work of a potter, came to be called pottery.

 

However, as pottery is associated with the image of a worker who makes ware on a potter’s wheel and the word doesn’t necessarily have aesthetic value, some craft people don’t like ​​using pottery and prefer using ceramic.

 

Ceramics is different from “ceramics” as an abbreviation for fine ceramics. The term meaning the clay pottery that has been molded and fired by craft people has been used since the 1850s.

 

Some people mistakenly consider stoneware as a word that means pottery and ceramics. Ware means “product.” For example, Wedgewood ware.

参考：〈「工芸」英訳ガイドライン〉（ ザ・クリエイション・オブ・ジャパン）