Ceramic Traditions - An appreciation.

Tradition is both a guide to the creativity which raises craft to art and a heavy weight which holds one back from attaining artistic goals. This was made more clear to me during a recent trip to Japan. For some readers, this may be an introduction to a new world of ceramic artistry. For others, more familiar with the artists or styles that I mention, I hope that I convey my appreciation for the long traditions of Japanese ceramics and the way that these traditions have shaped the work of the craftsperson / artist of today.

I had planned my trip to give me the free time to visit two of the centers of Japanese pottery, Kanazawa and Bizen. On arriving in Tokyo, I had a week before leaving to Kanazawa. My wife and I scanned the Japan Times for announcements of interesting exhibitions. To my great joy, I found that the art gallery of Daimaru Department store in Tokyo had an exhibit entitled MODERN MASTERS OF CERAMICS: Works by Eight Living National Treasures. Japan is a country rich in the traditions of ceramic productions, especially of articles to use in conjunction with the tea ceremony. Here, in one exhibition, were 136 works of all of the living artists who had been given the honor of being a Living National Treasure and 7 pieces by Toshu Yamamoto, another potter so honored who had died within the last year. Along with this honor comes a lifetime annual stipend from the government that is intended to both honor the artist and to free them from the need to produce works just to support themselves.

Modern Masters of Ceramics

We went to Daimaru on a Saturday. There was a steady stream of people moving through the exhibition and it was, at times, difficult to have a clear view of the piece that you wanted to see or to stand in one place for very long. I was not allowed to use my camera in the exhibition galleries and, while I have the exhibition catalogue, I also do not have the requisite copyright clearance to scan the photos and use them here. So, I will try to describe this exhibition as best I can and hope that you have enough familiarity with some of the areas that this will be meaningful.

The initial space was given to Miwa Kyusetsu. Miwa-san is from the town of Hagi in Yamaguchi-ken, the southernmost prefecture of the main island. In Japanese parlance, he is known as Miwa Kyusetsu XI. This designates that he is the eleventh in a long family tradition of pottery. He has three sons who are also potters, and when he finally retires, one of them will surely take up the name and become Miwa Kyusetsu XII. This, in itself, carries the weight of much tradition. At the age of 85, he is still producing some works each year.

Miwa's pieces depart from the norms of Hagi-yaki in that many are cut from thick slabs, in particular his vases and water jars. The effects are sculptural. Bowls for the tea ceremony may be hand formed or thrown. They tend to have thicker walls and a more substantial foot than is generally the case with Hagi-yack. As the forms are more massive, so the glazes used are much more thickly applied, causing runs and deep cracking in the strongly white glazes. Rather than the blending of colors common with Hagi-yaki, the effect is to contrast the glaze with the reddish tones of the clay.

Miwa has clearly built on the traditions of Hagi-ware in the use of the same clay, glazes and range of subjects. However, he has extended the range of styles to become more sculptural, to instill more strength in the works, transforming Hagi-yaki at the same time.

A contrasting manner of dealing with tradition was taken by Imaemon Imaizumi, an outstanding potter from Arita, on the southern island of Kyushu. He is known in Japan as Imaemon XIII. His family based tradition goes back thirteen generations. Arita-yaki is a high fired porcelain that is painted with overglaze enamels of great beauty. Imaemon has made himself the master of controlling these effects. While good painting can often hide bad form in ceramics of this style, those of Imaemon start with near perfect form and enhance that with subtly shaded, highly decorative painting. The white porcelain base is nearly covered with enameling. Forms tend to be large plates, deeper large bowls, and flower vases. In every case, Imaemon gives himself a large canvas on which to execute his delicate magic. As is typical in Arita, none of the forms are specifically designed for use in the tea ceremony. While Miwa has taken a long tradition and pushed it in new directions, Imaemon has carried his tradition to a new level of perfection and artistry.

Suzuki Osamu was, at 61, the youngest of the group. He is from the raditional center of Seto in central Honshu. Suzuki works primarily with the heavy feldspar based glazing effect called "shino." His forms are often the typical forms of the tea ceremony, water jars, tea bowls, etc. They are strong and decisively executed. His major departure from the local traditions is that he has been able to achieve the traditional effects of Shino ware while firing in a gas kiln. Most traditional potters in Japan still fire in large kilns with wood for a fuel. Suzuki is one of the few who have pushed into new technologies while retaining the rest of the traditions of his area.

The final revelation came from Matsui Kosei. Matsui seems to be bound up in tradition. He apprenticed himself to several of the earlier masters in Japan. From them, he seems to have absorbed a skill in both the creation of form and in firing. His kiln is located within a temple complex in the town of Kasama, about two hours north east of Tokyo. However, after much study, his reaction to tradition seems to be total repudiation. All of his works seem to strike off in new directions. While the works themselves seem to be made for traditional uses, as vases or bowls, they are built from astounding mixtures of clays resulting in colors that go completely through the body of the piece. His shapes are massive and unusual, wide based jars with nearly equally wide mouths, boxes with irregular shapes. Textures are often rough, showing either the effects of scraping a clay form before it dries too much or the coiling and fitting together of pieces of multicolored clay. Matsui's colors may be black, orange, purple or bright blue. His experimentations have radically altered the concept of pottery and you see his styles copied by many young potters today.

Kanazawa

After a week in Tokyo, I took advantage of a Japan Rail Pass to visit Kanazawa, in Ishikawa-ken, on the west coast of Japan. Kanazawa is a unique city in Japan in that, since it was turned over to the Maeda clan to rule in the 1580's, it has never felt the touch of war. Even during WW II, there were no targets of military importance in Kanazawa nor an major industry. Therefore, it was never bombed. As a result, much of the old city remains and is being maintained as close as possible to its historical state.

Ohi Chozaemon

Within Ishikawa-ken, the longest pottery tradition is that of the Ohi family. In 1666, the fifth leader of the Maeda clan, Toshitsuna, invited Senso, one of the leading tea masters of Japan, to come to Kanazawa to educate the court in the finer ways of tea and good manners. Before Senso left Kyoto to come to Kanazawa, he sought a young man to come along and to make tea utensils for him. The leading potter of Kyoto recommended that he take Chozaemon, as he was the highest apprentice in the shop. When Chozaemon arrived in Kanazawa, he found a suitable clay in the nearby village of Ohi. Then, he took the name of Ohi Chozaemon. The current family leader is Ohi Chozaemon X. Throughout the ten generations of living and working in Kanazawa, the family has never made anything other than utensils for the tea ceremony. Ohi-yaki is a low fired ceramic. The techniques used are building the work by hand and giving it araku firing. Ohi-yaki is well know for the use of Ame-Gusuri ,an amber glaze that has the hue of burned sugar.

Through the years, the skills of the family leader has varied, as has the market for Ohi-yaki. Since the Meiji restoration stripped out the local ruling class, the family has had some rough times. They never considered, however, abandoning the family traditions. The current leader, Ohi Chozaemon X has risen to be one of the stronger potters in Japan today and his pieces command almost as much money as those by Miwa or Suzuki.

An interesting insight into this family is to examine their son, Toshio, a very good potter who is poised to take over when his father retires. Toshio graduated from the Tama University of Arts near Tokyo, and then got a MFA from Boston University in 1984. Toshio's wife was a successful television journalist before quitting to marry into this traditional family. Traditions have carried the Ohi family through bad times and to this day, rule much of their lives. The head of the family has always been a potter. The women of the family have always been forbidden to enter the pottery area. Their role has been to maintain the traditions of tea in Kanazawa. For a young wife, there has been much to learn of family tradition.

Kutani

In the last 17th century, another type of cermaics was developed in Kaga. This was Kutani-yaki. While in Kanazawa, I have the opportunity to see some of the fine Ko-Kutani ware that was on display at the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art. There is a smaller display at the Ishikawa Prefecture Folk Craft Museum. This does not have so many pieces, but is arranged in a manner that illustrates the various styles of Kutani pottery and also the steps in its creation.

Kurikara

Living in a city so much caught up in traditional crafts, what would a young man do if he wanted to become a potter. Since Ohi-yaki was essentially a family affair, and Kutani-yaki lacked the old energy, one decision is to leave and study elsewhere. I met one such potter, Mr. Tatsumi from the little village of Kurikara, about a 20 minute ride by train from Kanazawa. Working through the Society to Introduce Kanazawa to the World, I had gotten an invitation to meet Mr. Tatsumi at his kiln. I will claim to have a little bad luck on this trip, as my visit was set on the day before he was to open his kiln after firing a large number of pieces. However, the Society's director, Ms. Sonoko Matsuda met me at the Kurikara station and acted as my guide and interpreter.

Mr. Tatsumi showed me his kiln, a traditional tunnel kiln (anagama) running at ground level and with a mouth that you could walk into. He also had a climbing kiln ( noborigama ) above the ground, but the heavy snows of the previous winter had collapsed the roof and done some damage to the brick work itself. The materials were all laid out to do the repair and can be seen in the back of the photo, but it was not yet usable. Mr. Tatsumi explained the firing process, which goes on for five days. He had a large pile of wood, most of which he cuts from his own property. We went over the method of opening windows along the kiln to add more fuel and to bring each section to the final firing temperature of 1300 deg. Cent.

After an examination of the kiln, we went to his work room, where he had a kick wheel and shelves for the pots that he had completed, pans with clay in various stages of preparation, etc. After that, we went into his house where an old lady, presumably his mother, served us tea and a sweet potato cake. As we began to talk, I asked about how he had decided to work here in his style, given the traditions of Kanazawa. This seemed to enliven him.

Mr. Tatsumi had left Kanazawa to go to neighboring Fukui-ken where there was a long tradition of pottery known as Echizen ware. The early days of Echizen pottery go around 1000 years. While it is not common or popular in modern Japan, there are still a few potters living and working there. Mr. Tatusmi brought out some potter fragments from the 11th or 12th century to show me the details of how the old Echizen potters handled the rim of a large jar, or the incised decorations on the shoulder. He also showed a piece of Suzu ware from the Noto area that dated to the 8th or 9th century. (The production of Suzu-yaki has only been re-introduced in the last 20 years.) After a long apprenticeship, he has returned to the area of his home town, Kanazawa. However, in Kurikara, he was able to acquire a piece of land that was remote enough he did not need to worry about the polluting effects of firing his wood kiln. Here, he continued to use the Echizen clay with which he was familiar. However, he sought to build his own tradition of Kurikara-yaki based on developing his own style combining traditional techniques and perhaps more modern sensibilities.

Following the meeting with Mr. Tatsumi, we ended up at an unusual place to eat lunch. It was a family shop that was half antique store, run by the husband, and half restaurant, run by the wife. We had a delicious bowl of buckwheat noodles in a soup that was loaded with fresh nameko mushrooms. Along with that was a small dumpling made of lotus root and all were served on dishes made by Mr. Tatsumi. It was a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

I left Kanazawa on Saturday on the 7:08 Limited Express to Kyoto. In Kyoto, I had a 10 minute connection to the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama. I was going to spend the next three days in the Okayama area, but I wanted to go on to Kurashiki on Saturday afternoon, to visit the Ohara Museum of Art, which was going to be closed on Monday. A 12 minute connection did not give me time enough to get my back pack into a locker, so it went on with me. The Ohara is most well knows for its collection of 20th century painting. The collection contains most of the top names in painting from Renoir to Warhol. There is also a Craft Museum included on the same ticket and that was of more interest and more uniformly of fine quality. Again, I was not allowed to take pictures, so I will have to describe the collection.

Mingei (Folkcraft) Movement

I must digress a little here to comment on the Folk Craft (Mingei) movement in Japan. The Mingei movement started in the 1920s as an effort to capture the energy and naivete of the folk craftsman and use that as the basis for a fine art. They were also interested in preserving the craft of folk artists before it was lost to increased industrialization. The intellectual father of the Mingei movement was Soetsu Yanagi, whose Tokyo house is now the Tokyo Folk Craft Museum. The leading artists included three Japanese potters (Shoji Hamada, Kanjiro Kawai and Kenichi Tomimoto, their British potter friend, Bernard Leach, and the wood block print maker, Shiko Munakata. All were well represented at the Ohara with at least a room dedicated to each. The movement was centered in Japan, but was interested in preserving the work of folk artists from around the world. I have seen a photo of Hamada, Leach and Yanagi visiting with Maria Martinez in New Mexico and observing as she fired some of her famous black pottery.

In Japan, Hamada had deliberately chosen to live and work in the town of Mashiko, to the North and East of Tokyo. Mashiko had never been known for the production of fine pottery. The potters here turned out the plates, tea cups, bowls, dishes and food storage jars of every day life. The forms were simple and decoration was minimal. These aspects appealed to Hamada. Now, over 100 kilns are in Mashiko. Their ceramic style combines the traditional objects with more artistically executed tea bowls, vases, etc. The local building stone, when finely ground, yields the glaze called tenmoku, a rich brown. The ashes from burning rice hulls which yields a warm, creamy white glaze that is also typical of Mashiko-yaki.

One of the potters in the Modern Masters exhibition, Jiro Kinjo from Okinawa, was also closely involved with the Mingei movement. His works remain naively simple in their execution and are often decorated with the shapes of fish, lobster and other sea motifs typically found in the folk art of this small island. The 73 year old Kinjo is the last great potter of the Mingei movement.

Kanjiro Kawai took a different approach to working with the materials of the folk tradition. He had been born and raised in Kyoto, long the center of court life in Japan and of a sophisticated artistic life. Kawai was able to take the glazing and decorative methods of the folk craftsman and to apply them to distinctly modern forms. Many of his pieces would fit will into the Art Deco rooms of the 1930. This approach is unique with Kawai. I have not seen any other ceramic artist who was so successful at applying the techniques of the folk artist to objects with a distinctly modern sensibility.

Bizen

The next day, I left Okayama early for the 45 minute train ride to Imbe. Imbe is a small town set in the mountains between Osaka and Okayama. If you decide to go past Imbe, the train line becomes single track. I stopped, as Imbe is the center for the creation of Bizen-yaki, a distinct style of ceramic ware that I had long admired. This was Sunday, and the last day of the Bizen Pottery Festival, and I was anxious to have as much time there as possible

The traditions of Bizen pottery go back to the 9th century. In the 13th century, Bizen potters moved down from the mountains to the current vicinity of Imbe. There, they had found a unique clay lying in a seam 3 to 4 meters underneath the rice paddies in this region. This is the clay that Bizen potters use today. It's characteristics have defined much of the tradition of Bizen. Bizen clay is naturally dark, almost black when it is wet. It is very smooth without many impurities. The crystalline structure is fragile.

In a land where it is easy to sell "cuteness", Bizen-yaki does not appeal to all. The pieces are not glazed. All of the effects come from the firing itself, or from the way that rice straw is used to separate the pieces when stacking the kiln. As the rice straw burns away, it leaves its mark on the clay. If the nature of Bizen ware does not appeal to all Japanese, the appreciation of Bizen-yaki is still almost uniquely Japanese. Even considering that this was a festival day, I only saw two other people who were not Japanese. It turned out that both were British, one a blonde lady married to a Japanese man and the other was a young man who was apprenticed at the Ichiyo Kiln. He had been there for six years and was able to take time from selling wares explain to me much about the firing techniques used in making Bizen-yaki . Bizen potters always use a noborigama, or climbing kiln.

The visit to the Ichiyo kiln was very educational for me, especially with the helpful explanations from Chris. However, every kiln in town was showing their wares and I was looking to buy something as nice as I could find within the range of what I could afford. As I walked the streets of Imbe, I came to the shop of Mr. Tohzan Mori .

I left Imbe long before the festival ended, having one other place to visit that day. A short train ride to the end of the single line track brought me to Bizen Katakami station. From there, a fifteen minute cab ride was required to get to the Fujiwara Kei Museum. Fujiwara was a unique person in this town of great potters. He did not start to work as a potter until he was 40 years old. But living in such a place, one is always surrounded by and absorbing the nature of pottery making. He quickly established himself as a master potter and eventually earned the designation of being a Living National Treasure. After his death, a museum was constructed next to the sight of his kiln. Such was the fame of Fujiwara Kei that then Prime Minister Miyazawa sent flowers to the opening of his grandson's first one man show in Tokyo.

With that, I had reached the end of my trip. It had given me deeper knowledge of the processes behind some of the greatest ceramics being created today. As I prepared to return to the US, I started to think about the role of tradition for the American craftsman. Other than the pueblo potters of the Southwest, most American potters of today are working outside of any true tradition. Each step that they take must be carefully chosen based on their individual knowledge and skill. Techniques are learned from books or through conversation with other potters. But there are no Bizens or Echizens or Mashikos in America, where the lessons of centuries can be learned just through living in such a place. As I spend more time in the electronic world of computers, multimedia, CD-ROMs and the Internet, I wonder what is the place for the craftsman. I read about the declining importance of the material and wonder how much we may be losing.