Roof tiles, Wall tiles, Floor tiles, and Tableware
Long trusted quality in Japan
Our products are the fruit of 400 years of wisdom and skills of our craftsmen.
Kawara is the Japanese word for the fired-clay roof tiles. At Sekisyu Kawara, locally-available white clay is moulded and then baked at temperatures above 1200 degree-celsius, resulting in tiles those have been scientifically-tested and proven to be exceptionally resilient including weather durability and excellent thermal-mass properties, and frost and salt damage. The exceptional resilience of the Sekisyu tiles mean that it is also practically maintenance-free, leading to long-term economic benefits. Today, our diverse lineup of products has expanded to handcrafted tablewares, expressing artful individuality, fluid creativity, and refinement in the work of our craftsmen who may now also be called artisans.
Advantage of Sekisyu Kawara
SEKISYU KAWARA is an extremely long-lasting trustworthy roof tile with superior quality and performance. The source of strength of Sekisyu roof tiles lies in the highquality clay materials and therefore, firing temperature higher than 1,200°C at which roof tiles can be manufactured.
- ・durability
- Sekisyu roof tile can keep their quality for 50 to 100 years withstanding salt, frost, acid rain and so on.
- ・high fire proofing
- Sekisyu roof tiles are made from clay which is resistant to fire and certified as non-combustible product by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.
- ・high water proofing
- Sekisyu roof tiles are designed to prevent water from infiltrating onto the roofing underlayment for sure waterproofing.
- ・high thermal insulation performance
- The heat coming out of the roof through the roof cannot be ignored from an energy saving point of view. Sekisyu roof tiles have excellent insulation efficiency.
- ・maintenance free
- Sekisyu roof tiles are clay tiles manufactured in high firing temperature, maintain their original color for years despite being subjected to weather and have excellent durability performance, which lead to maintenance-free for years.
The history of Sekisyu Kawara
Sekisyu roof tile was born when tilers were brought here from the present Osaka to have them manufacture roof tiles for the construction of Hamada castle in 1619. During 1716〜1852, unglazed red tiles and tiles glazed with ferric oxide were manufactured. In the period of 1853〜1879, a large number of potteries for daily use were manufactured in Iwami area. In particular, reputed for its freeze-resistant performance, water jar became common in the areas along the coast of the Japan Sea. The chinaware masters made efforts to manufacture roof tiles, utilizing KIMACHI glaze, which had been used to manufacture the water jar, and burning crude tiles at such high heat as 1,300 C degree. As a result, they succeeded to produce the good-quality tile. It was the prototype of present Sekisyu tile. In these days, about 50 million tiles are manufactured in a year by 6 manufacturers in Sekisyu area, which is counted as one of the largest tile production centers in Japan. The manufacturers are working on the modernization of production and the fulfillment of diversified consumers’ needs. Various types of tiles have become available. In addition, the use of tiles for flooring and wall material, tableware is now in progress.
Manufactures
