Pottery has been made continuously in the Shigaraki valley from the 13th century to the present day, but the name "Shigaraki" connotes different products to different Japanese. Many connoisseurs know the Shigaraki-ware vases and water-jars made in the 16th and 17th centuries for use in the tea ceremony, chanoyu. Other collectors covet the large unglazed storage jars of an earlier era. To most Japanese, however, the name "Shigaraki" brings to mind modern clay sculptures of the tanuki, the portly, grinning raccoon-like animal from Japanese folklore admired for his cunning ability to eat and drink forever on credit. Shigaraki tanuki welcome ...