Raku Kōnyū (楽弘入, 1857–1932) was the twelfth head of the Raku family. Born as the eldest son of the eleventh-generation head, Raku Keinyū, he succeeded as Raku Kichizaemon in 1871, at the age of fifteen. In 1919, he retired and took the name Kōnyū.
Kōnyū lived through a period of great change in Japan, when traditional arts, including the tea ceremony, faced difficulties. His tea bowls are often characterized by gently rounded forms, a restrained expression, and distinctive decorative use of the spatula. He worked in both Black Raku and Red Raku, and his Red Raku bowls are particularly noted for their subtle variations in color. He also produced incense containers and water jars.
One of his notable Black Raku tea bowls is known as “Oborozuki” (朧月), meaning “Hazy Moon.”
The original bowl features a large decorative impressed seal on its body, surrounded by an area of contrasting, pale yellowish glaze. The seal and its surrounding colors may suggest a softly glowing moon seen through the haze of the night sky.
According to descriptions of the original bowl’s wooden storage box, Kōnyū inscribed the front of the lid, while Seisai, the twelfth head of the Omotesenke school of tea ceremony, wrote the name “Oborozuki” on the reverse. The bowl is regarded as a representative work from Kōnyū’s later years.
The photograph shows a reproduction of “Oborozuki” made by third-generation Sasaki Shōraku, born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1944. It is not the original bowl by Raku Kōnyū.
