Sancera Reusable Ceramic Coffee Filter: Rethinking What Japanese Ceramics Can Do
Coffee is part of my morning, just like it is for so many people. Some days it's a quick espresso. Other days, I love a slow pour-over. I discovered Sancera's ceramic coffee filter not long ago as a sustainable alternative to paper filters.
During my visit to Sancera in Kyushu, I sat down with president Yamaguchi Kiyohasa to learn how his work combines science and traditional craftsmanship to solve everyday problems.
Key benefits of the Sancera ceramic coffee filter:
- Micro-porous 50-micron ceramic structure designed for smooth extraction
- Multi-layered pore design that acts like a natural pump
- Reusable and paperless ceramic filter for eco-friendly daily brewing
The Story Behind the Sancera Ceramic Filter
Sancera is not a conventional ceramics company compared to others I visited during my Kyushu trips.
Yamaguchi trained as a ceramic artist and founded Issaku Kiln, known for Hasami ware, before closing it to search for a new path in manufacturing, one built on the technical possibilities of ceramics rather than the craft itself.
Around 35 years ago, he began producing porous ceramic components for the electronics industry. Yamaguchi’s wealth of experience and natural curiosity to find solutions others might overlook led him to start Sancera eight years ago.
“Normally, people wouldn't think this far, but I'm always using my head,” he told me. “I don't do what other people do.”
Since Sancera’s founding, much of the business was built around a single product: the reusable Mount Fuji ceramic coffee filter.
From LCD Screens to Paperless Coffee Filters
The story behind Sancera's ceramic coffee filter begins somewhere I never expected: the manufacturing of LCD displays. Yamaguchi originally worked with porous ceramic plates designed to transport large, ultrathin sheets of glass. Because the glass broke easily, air was pushed through microscopic pores in the ceramic to create a thin cushion, allowing the glass to glide without direct contact.
Years later, he realized that this micro-porous structure could serve a completely different purpose in the kitchen: letting coffee flow through instead of air.
To create a consistent pour-over flow with this ceramic coffee filter, Sancera developed a proprietary ceramic blend. By carefully mixing particles of different sizes, they engineered a multi-layered structure that controls liquid flow:
“If large and small were the same particle, you'd only get the same-sized hole,” Yamaguchi explained. “Mix small and large, and you get a small hole beneath a large hole. Then it acts like a pump.”
It is a small everyday object, but behind it there's a whole other industry's worth of know-how packed into it.
Inside Sancera’s Japanese Ceramic Filter Craftsmanship
As Yamaguchi guided me through Sancera’s workshop, I got a closer look at how that technology becomes the filter I use at home.
Each ceramic coffee filter begins as a liquid ceramic mixture that is poured into a plaster mold. Rather than forming a single layer, the white exterior is created first, followed by the black interior. After removal from the mold and drying, the filter undergoes three separate firings: a bisque firing at around 900°C, a main firing at 1,250°C, and a final firing at around 900°C.
Yamaguchi even cut a filter open to show me the cross-section—revealing an interconnected network of microscopic, 50-micron pores that filter out impurities while letting natural coffee oils pass through for a tastier cup.
Where Science Meets Craftsmanship
Many of the kilns I visited across Kyushu were finding ways to carry traditional techniques forward, adapting old forms and designs for the way we live today, but Sancera felt different.
Many people ask how ceramics from the past can serve the present. Yamaguchi is more interested in what comes next.
Using technology he learned and worked with decades ago, he has found an entirely different purpose - this time in the kitchen. During my visit, he was already applying that same curiosity to a new rice pot, experimenting with ceramics and recycled iron to solve another everyday problem.
“What I make is things, products. And I make the story too,” Yamaguchi told me. “Ideas come out of my own daily life.”
Here at JOC Goods, our mission is to preserve Japanese ceramic traditions, but visionary makers like Yamaguchi show us how that knowledge can evolve into modern essentials.
Experience the Mt Fuji Ceramic Filter
Back at home, when I pour coffee through Sancera's ceramic filter, I often find myself thinking back to Yamaguchi and our conversation in Kyushu.
I like that something so technically complex can become so simple once it reaches my kitchen. I don't need to understand the science every morning. I just make my coffee and enjoy it.
But knowing where the filter came from has made me appreciate that little morning routine even more. It’s a bonus that it makes delicious coffee and there’s less washing up!
You can shop our Sancera Ceramic Coffee Filter in the JOC Goods online store.
How do you clean a ceramic coffee filter?
According to the maker, rinsing with water or hot water is all that's needed after each use — no dish soap is required. Because the ceramic is porous, detergent can be absorbed and may affect the flavor of future brews, so we recommend avoiding it. Rinse the filter inside and out, then let it air-dry completely before storing.
Do you need paper filters with ceramic filters?
No, paper filters are not required. By brewing directly through the ceramic filter, you can extract the rich coffee oils and aromas that paper filters usually absorb, resulting in a smoother flavor.
Namiko Hirasawa Chen
Namiko Hirasawa Chen is the founder of JOC Goods and Just One Cookbook, where she shares Japanese home cooking and the kitchenware and tableware that go with it.
