Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - raku

 noun  Usage: often attributive  Etymology: Japanese, literally, pleasure; from the use of the character for this word on a seal given to the family of the potter who introduced the style  Date: 1875  1. Japanese hand-modeled pottery that is fired at a low temperature and rapidly cooled  2. a process by which pottery is fired at a relatively low temperature and then moved while hot to a closed container with combustible materials (as paper or sawdust) that ignite and cause a reaction creating colors and patterns in the pottery's surface; also pottery produced using this process