Ako Sugie | "The Book of MINO: Anatomy of Mino Ware" (Ceramic Valley Council)
A 1,400-page book dissects Mino ware, exploring the industry and culture of Japan's largest ceramics production area.Summary
This article is a review by Ako Sugie of the book "The Book of MINO: Anatomy of Mino Ware" (published by Ceramic Valley Council, November 3, 2026, 1,400 pages), which she fully contributed to as an author and editor. The book is planned by Taku Satoh and supervised by Mari Hashimoto and Akira Tachibana. Mino ware is ceramics produced mainly in Tajimi, Toki, Mizunami, and Kani cities in Gifu Prefecture, the largest ceramics production region in Japan. While it includes artistic works, its main industry is mass-produced industrial products such as commercial tableware used in fast-food chains, food courts, and supermarkets, supporting Japan's eating-out and home-meal industries. The first chapter, "Mino Ware Ramen Bowls," reveals that about 90% of ramen bowls used in Japanese ramen shops are made in the Mino region. Using graphic designer Taku Satoh's concept of "design anatomy," the book analyzes mass-produced items (ramen bowls, rice bowls, dinner plates, mugs, tiles) and traditional crafts (Shino tea bowls). It also covers ceramic art trends, history, production areas, and raw materials, with rich visual pages resulting in a 1,400-page volume. The publisher, Ceramic Valley Council, which works on local branding, hopes the book will remain for 100 years, as the region has a 1,400-year ceramics tradition that is unlikely to fade.
(Source：artscape)