Kikuma roof tiles

Kikuma-cho sits in western Imabari, where the coastal road brings tile signs, roofs, parks, public facilities, flowerbeds, and slides into the same field of view. At Kawara no Furusato Park, tiles appear on playground features and planting beds, while onigawara also mark the townscape. The material is visible beyond roof ridges: Kikuma tiles show up on signs, public spaces, and everyday streets that people pass on foot or by car.

The clay body is described as a blend of 60 percent Sanuki clay from Kagawa and 40 percent Gomi clay dug within the town. Because the two clays differ in grain size, mineral structure, water content, and stickiness, the raw clay is crushed, given suitable moisture, and kneaded into a more stable body. The mixed clay is then covered and left for about ten days, a resting period that calms the material before it becomes the base for shaped tiles.

After resting, the clay passes through a vacuum kneader that removes air, then becomes the rough body for tile shaping. It rests again at the workshop for four to ten days before pressing. Standard forms can be pressed by machine, while special tiles are shaped by tile makers’ hands. Finished forms receive mica and a surface treatment called migaki; this hand polishing helps control warping during drying and brings a clearer luster to the surface. The family covers about fifty product types, from basic roof tiles and special functional tiles to onigawara.

Polished tiles are shade-dried for about five days, using conditions close to natural drying and residual kiln heat so that rapid drying does not damage quality. Once dry, the tiles enter a gas kiln fueled by butane, with roughly 1,000 to 1,500 tiles fired in one kiln. The firing temperature reaches 1,000 to 1,050 C, followed by about twenty hours of sealed smoking. Each tile is then checked for strength, dimensions, bending, smoked color, and water absorption before it leaves the workshop.

Kikuma tilemaking is traced to the Kamakura period, and later growth is connected with protection under the Matsuyama domain. The kiln cooperative also links Kikuma tiles with Matsuyama Castle work and with tiles selected for Imperial Palace construction in 1884. Castle roofs, temple and shrine roofs, and onigawara place strength, silver surface, and sculptural form on the same roofline. In Kikuma’s streets, onigawara also appear as recognizable public shapes, not only as parts of private roofs.

Kawara-kan in Imabari’s Kikuma-cho gathers the history, techniques, collected works, and clay activities of Kikuma tiles in one place near JR Kikuma Station. There, the roof material becomes something visitors can see at close range and handle through clay work. Separate maker examples also extend roof-tile techniques into plates, sake vessels, wall tiles, interior pieces, and small objects. These forms should be read as maker-led applications, while the core family remains rooted in roof tiles, special tiles, and onigawara.