• About the “KISEN” Brand

    Shobido has progressed together with historic Arita porcelain, and aspires to deliver products in which traditional designs are given contemporary expression. The “KISEN” brand marks products with value to be handed down to future generations. Please enjoy this timeless beauty that transcends the ages.

  • Elegant, formalized designs feature unrestricted brushwork
    and distinct use of colors


    Depicting garden plants and flowers freely and spontaneously in their works, the Rimpa School artists arranged their motifs in unconventional compositions. The art of the Rimpa School, which Korin Ogata (1658 - 1716) revived, truly represents the essence of art during the Edo Period (1603 - 1868). Rimpa-style Ko-Imari ware features original designs created by ceramic artists who eagerly inherited the Rimpa's artistic style. The elegant, formalized designs, painted against backdrops of deep indigo, indeed embody the Japanese aesthetic sense.

  • Graceful and elegant―Vermilion flowers against milky-white background

    Flowers of light vermilion, the tone of the setting sun, are painted against a milky-white background. Until the latter half of the 17th century, Arita ware had only blue and white decorations. Then Kakiemon Sakaida, a potter in Arita, invented the iroe (polychrome overglaze enamels) technique by adding a few more tones, including the vermilion used in this work. The plum blossom and chrysanthemum design is typical of iroe. In this work, the artist painted these auspicious motifs against a pure white porcelain base, creating a mood of grace and elegance.

  • Simple beauty of pure white porcelain in chrysanthemum shape

    To represent a large chrysanthemum flower, a symbol of nobility in Japan, the artist of these works shaped pure white porcelain into a floral pattern. This extremely simple, yet precise form, developed centuries ago, continues to convey to viewers that innovative and original impression. These dishes and bowls are ideal for serving any type of delicacy, and will surely enhance the appetite of guests so honored. Arita ware potters, first in Japan to develop white porcelain, proudly present these dishes and bowls featuring the chrysanthemum shape.

  • Tasteful sometsuke (blue and white painting) design,
    beloved by the Lord of Hirado


    From the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century, Hirado, the first port town in Nagasaki that opened to European countries, flourished thanks to its trade with European countries (first with Portugal, subsequently with the Netherlands). Lord Matsuura of Hirado loved Hirado shonzui (a type of porcelain ware originally produced at Jingdezhen kiln in China, from the end of the Ming dynasty to the early Qing dynasty) decorated in deep indigo. These Hirado shonzui works, arrayed with manually painted motifs, feature precise yet unrestrained brushwork. The more you use these creations, the greater will grow your affinity for their hand-wrought beauty.