KARATSU, Saga Pref. -- Best known for its deceptively simple pottery, Karatsu is a peaceful coastal town on a western tip of Kyushu. It's quiet year round except for summer, when holidaymakers crowd the long sandy beaches nearby, and November, when several hundred thousand visitors flock to see giant, fish-shaped floats at the Karatsu Kunchi festival.

The town's name translates as "port to China," a reference to the days ships sailed to Karatsu bringing ceramic wares from China. More significantly, Karatsu is where the talented Korean potters Toyotomi Hideyoshi forcibly brought back from his Korean raids between 1592 and 1598 (often dubbed the "pottery wars") were first put to work before relocating to nearby Arita.

Some historians argue that pottery was fired in Karatsu even before this time, pointing to such evidence as the remains of a kiln at Mount Kishidake outside Karatsu, believed to date to 1550. Nevertheless, works by these Korean potters have defined the Karatsu-yaki (Karatsu wares) of today.

Takashi Nakazato at work on a batch of chawan tea bowls to be glazed in the "kohiki" style

Chosen-Karatsu works glazed in black and accented by a cascade of contrasting glaze, and Mishima-Karatsu works of gray glaze over whitened imprints, typify the work of these artisans.

Karatsu's 30-odd pottery workshops are spread out in the hills around the city. One of the most acclaimed is Ryuta-gama kiln, headed by Takashi Nakazato. His works are highly prized for their light, sensitive shapes and luminous use of glaze. A chawan (tea bowl) by Takashi Nakazato can fetch hundreds of thousands of yen.

Nakazato is the rebellious youngest of three Nakazato brothers, all direct descendants of the master potters who made wares exclusively for Karatsu Castle's Matsuura lords until the Meiji Restoration of 1868. He learned his craft, however, at Tanegashima in Kagoshima Prefecture. Nakazato credits the differences in soil texture there with having influenced his favorite style, Karatsu Nanban, which has a rough, dark finish.

"The high iron content in the soil in Tanegashima made it difficult to apply glaze. I liked the way the unglazed wares changed when fired, and I decided to develop that technique in Karatsu," said Nakazato, talking while he applied bands of pale kohiki glaze on semidried bowls in expert, carefree strokes.

Taki Nakazato, Takashi's oldest son, has worked with him at Ryuta-gama for about 13 years.

According to Nakazato's son Taki, also a potter, the elder Nakazato's interest in materials has brought about most changes in his work to date.

"He travels a lot, and always brings home new glazes and materials that create different effects," said Taki, who has worked alongside his father at Ryuta-gama for 13 years.

For the last six years Nakazato has spent half the year in Copenhagen, where he enjoys the crisp summer months and snowy winters that are refreshingly "winterlike."

He rarely exhibits in Kyushu -- mostly in Tokyo and Copenhagen. His works are also used at a handful of select sushi bars in Fukuoka and Karatsu -- Nakazato loves fish, and frequently takes an expert sashimi knife to the fish of Karatsu himself.

Karatsu wares, including Nakazato's, are meant for practical use, and most experts write that the wares look best when food is actually arranged on them.

If you stop by Kawashima Tofu restaurant for lunch in Karatsu, where Nakazato has designed a range of wares, you will see Nakazato fans zealously lifting their plates to admire how good the food looks on them.

Nakazato also points out that the works should be appreciated not in the context of the Western table aesthetic but of the Japanese, in which styles are contrasted and not matched.

Nakazato's dark, Korean-style Nanban wares look best when placed next to his recent, asymmetrical works in white porcelain -- or even, say, a colorful dish.

While Takashi Nakazato often reinterprets Karatsu-yaki in nontraditional styles, many potters are devoted to the opposite -- preserving traditions.

Aya Nakazato showing her chawan; below is her Chosen Karatsu vase.

This can be seen in the work of official Nakazato family descendant Taroemon and nearby at the Aya-gama kiln display room, run by the very affable Aya Nakazato.

A former school teacher, Aya Nakazato began pottery through her interest in tea ceremony. Karatsu's tea ceremony wares first gained renown in the 1600s, when they were named one of the three best styles by tea master Sen no Rikyu, along with Hagi and Raku wares (from Yamaguchi Prefecture and Kyoto).

Incidentally, Korea's superior Ido wares were originally included in this top selection.

"As a potter, I strive mostly to perfect Karatsu's history of making drinking bowls for tea," Aya Nakazato explained. Her simple, austere vases and bowls epitomize the aesthetics of tea, but original expression is maintained within this traditional style.

"In tea ceremony, it's important that no single piece resembles something that exists elsewhere," said Aya. "That's also why potters in Karatsu keep to themselves: to focus on their own passions."

These numerous other interesting potters are worth visiting. Bob Okazaki, a California-born potter of Japanese descent, makes curvy wares with freehand patterns of fish and flowers, as sunny as the potter himself. Yu Ohashi of Osugisaraya-gama kiln makes rougher works, with bold, abstract designs.

The best way to learn about Karatsu-yaki is to spend a day visiting the kilns you are interested in, driving along roads where the blue Genkai Sea is never out of sight for long.

As for finding the best works, follow Aya Nakazato's advice: "The heart of the potter will usually come through in the works. Most people will like the pots made by a potter they have an affinity with."