Pottery and the Table

Overview

Shape clay into platters, small plates and bowls, then serve food and set the table. Choose a blank on the wheel, select its finish in the kiln, and use the finished pottery at home or in a shop.

Things to enjoy

Choose a vessel with the wheel’s working slots

With the central working grid empty, left-click slots with an empty cursor to enable or disable them. All start enabled; brown crosses mark disabled slots. Set a layout shown below, then place clay balls in the left supply slot. The required amount moves into the working grid automatically and shaping begins when it is ready. The right output holds the unfired vessel.

The full grid makes a platter, a square in any corner makes a small plate, and a V makes a bowl. Read the diagrams from top to bottom and left to right, leaving all other slots disabled. The translated layouts shown below work; rotations do not. Unsupported layouts leave clay in the supply slot.

● Enabled (automatically filled) / × Disabled (leave empty)

Choose a pottery finish

Fire each platter, small plate or bowl blank with the appropriate glazes, pigments or other additions to make Bizen, Shigaraki, Oribe, Karatsu, Hagi or Yachimun ware. The wheel selects the shape; the ingredients added in the kiln determine the regional finish.

Serve and eat from a bowl

Place a fired bowl on a table or another surface and use a finished noodle or rice bowl dish on it to serve the meal. Use it with an empty hand to eat, leaving the empty bowl. A full player leaves the meal untouched. Served food cannot be retrieved as an item and is lost if the bowl is broken.

Arrange dishes one by one

Arrange a meal on a tray, side dishes on a platter, or sushi on a board. Your choice of dishes becomes part of the table setting.

Display a fresh catch

Arrange raw fish and meat in an iced wooden display to build a fish shop or market scene.

Key items

• Refractory ClayFired earth kneaded back into raw clay to make a body that stands up to fire.
• FirebrickRefractory clay burnt hard into a pale buff brick.
• Pottery KilnA pottery kiln that uses one log per finished piece.
• Glaze MillA one-block mill that grinds glaze and pigment stock in water.
• Plant AshThe ash left from burning plants.
• Unfired Earthenware PlatterA clay platter shaped and dried on a potter's wheel, ready to finish in a kiln.
• Ash GlazeWood ash, sand and clay ground together in water.
• Copper Green GlazeThe ash glaze milled again with raw copper in it.
• Tsuboya White GlazeWood ash, calcite and clay milled together into a thick, clouded white glaze.
• Iron PigmentRaw iron milled with clay into a pigment for painting.
• Bizen Ware PlatterA platter for up to four okazu.
• Shigaraki Ware PlatterA platter for up to four okazu.
• Oribe Ware PlatterA platter for up to four okazu.
• Karatsu Ware PlatterA platter for up to four okazu.
• Hagi Ware PlatterA platter for up to four okazu.
• Yachimun PlatterA platter for up to four okazu, with blue karakusa vines and leaves on a warm ivory ground.
• Obon TrayA tray that holds up to four soups and okazu, with no fixed role for any spot.
• Sushi GetaA board for up to four pieces of sushi, each set down on its own.
• Produce Display CrateA shallow crate that shows up to four raw crops.
• Iced Display CrateA shallow crate on a bed of ice for raw fish and raw meat.
• Potter's WheelA rotating wheel that shapes clay into unfired vessels for finishing and firing.
• Unfired Earthenware Small PlateA small plate blank shaped and dried on the wheel.
• Bizen Ware Small PlateA bizen ware small plate for one side dish, inspired by a five-sun plate.
• Shigaraki Ware Small PlateA shigaraki ware small plate for one side dish, inspired by a five-sun plate.
• Oribe Ware Small PlateA oribe ware small plate for one side dish, inspired by a five-sun plate.
• Karatsu Ware Small PlateA karatsu ware small plate for one side dish, inspired by a five-sun plate.
• Hagi Ware Small PlateA hagi ware small plate for one side dish, inspired by a five-sun plate.
• Yachimun Small PlateA yachimun small plate for one side dish, inspired by a five-sun plate.
• Unfired Earthenware BowlA bowl blank shaped and dried on the wheel, ready to fire in a kiln with the chosen finish.
• Bizen Ware BowlA bowl for serving and eating noodle and rice bowl dishes.
• Shigaraki Ware BowlA bowl for serving and eating noodle and rice bowl dishes.
• Oribe Ware BowlA bowl for serving and eating noodle and rice bowl dishes.
• Karatsu Ware BowlA bowl for serving and eating noodle and rice bowl dishes.
• Hagi Ware BowlA bowl for serving and eating noodle and rice bowl dishes.
• Yachimun BowlA bowl for serving and eating noodle and rice bowl dishes.
• TableA wooden table taller than a chabudai.

Representative recipes

Related activities

• The Kitchen
• Farmhouses and Interiors