Hakuji

It is always plain white without colored patterns and is often seen as bowls, tea pots, cups and other Japanese tableware.

However, a large quantity of these ceramics were intended for a Japanese market before drastic trade restrictions by the mid 1600s.

Among the countless Buddhist images meant for the Japanese market are those with strongly stylized robes that show an influence from the Kano School of painting that dominated Tokugawa Japan.

The plain white incense tripods and associated objects for Japanese religious, ritual observance and the Buddhist Goddesses of Mercy with child figurines that closely resemble the Christian Madonna and Child are designed specifically for a Japanese market.

Such figurines were known as Maria Kannon or "Blessed Virgin Goddesses of Mercy" and were part of the "hidden Christian" culture of Tokugawa Japan, which had strictly banned the religion.

[1] The retail company Muji brought out its own line of Hakuji home ware, which is produced out of ground translucent Amakusa stones kneaded into clay, using traditional techniques.

[4][5] Another type is seihakuji (青白磁) porcelain, where the glaze has subtle colour gradations of icy, bluish white.

[1] In Chinese this type of glaze is known as Qingbai ware, which is more greenish-white in colour, and is therefore also considered a form of celadon (青磁, seiji).