Pottery Towns

Tanuki statues are all over the town of Shigarashi are of an actual species - a raccoon dog. TheTanuki have been deified and represent good luck, steadiness, virtue, financial luck and are considered magical, having the ability to change form, as in a shapeshifter….They are made in this town, and if you drove through the center of it you would think this along with planters that would be all that is made here.
These Tanukis are also everywhere in Japan, comparable with the cat waving its paw….(but in my humble opinion, not as cute)

Well there is a lot more going on here than mass production of Tanukis. Shigarashi and Bizen are pottery towns. In Bizen there are at least 400 kilns operating (that's wood burning not electric, think foundry not household ovens) at any given time.Why? These places are ancient kiln sites, 2 of the original 6 sites some that go back to the 13th century. But before I start talking too much about history, I know too little of, look at Robert Yellin's site: http://www.e-yakimono.net/guide/
This will give you the full story with images from a very knowledgeable source.

Meanwhile, we visited 2 artists studios Kanzaki Shiho whose work is very beautiful and primordial.

Then we went to the light and airy home and studio of Kohyama Yasuhisa.

Gallery shot above, Kiln shot below.

I really liked the work, and the work of his wife/partner, Wakae (more folk craft style or mingei) that we had green tea cake and cookies on (yum) were wonderful as well.

Bizen is a beautiful pottery town. A pottery town was established long time ago and is considered one of the 6 original (ancient) kiln sites. The number has grown as archeological digs have found evidence of other sites. Meanwhile Bizen is picturesque, unlike the main areas of Shigarashi. Though trying to find a quick lunch was not simple as all the commercial that are not sit down restaurants or pottery galleries are on the edges. Kind of like those charming little destination towns in Connecticut where one goes 'antiquing'. Though this is Japan and it's pottery. Kind of the same, but mostly different. Sigh. I'll let the pix doing the describing. Again, I highly recommend the Robert Yellin site to get the real 411 on this. www.e-yakimono.net

We went to visit the home and studio of Isezaki Jun, the living treasure of Japan for ceramics. Another parallel would be a national MacArthur grant. The honor of being a national treasure is more governmental: one must be elected and one must lecture on their craft to support interest in it and it is more of the classic style of pottery (or whatever discipline) than the personal. It's complex and deep, as these things. I don't know enough to speak with authority, I'm attempting to give a parallel for understanding. None the less, he is a master of his craft.

A partial view of Isezake Jun's studio.

 A work in progress. This is more of his 'personal work' versus the classic tea bowl (chawan) or sake bottle (tokkuri) or cups (guinomi)

The small kiln with a bit of  Kochiro (Jun's son).  Interior of 40 foot kiln. It takes 2 weeks to load, 2 weeks to fire (see wood pile in small kiln photo) which is a 24/7 experience keeping the temperature consistent and draft moving and adding ash as needed. This is a very very simplistic explanation of the firing process. This kiln is part of the Isezaki compound, it has only been fired once, thus it's pristine condition. If you plan on building one of these this would be a good model to follow.

A partial view (still life) of the garden of Kokurezaki Kyuichi. 

Kokurezaki's outdoor studio near the kiln. He was referred to as a 'rock star potter'. Such a person exists  in Japan. When we visited his home and studio, he was preparing for a solo show in one of the major museums in Japan.

Miho Museum

The Miho Museum is about an hour out of Kyoto. It's worth the trip. The building is designed by I M Pei, the funding for the museum came from a spiritual movement, Shinji Shumeikai founded by Mihoko Koyama, an incredibly wealthy textile heiress. But that is information. 

This is about sensation. It is a beautiful day, the leaves are beginning to turn. They hold the promise of more vivd color. It is a hopeful day. The way the circles of window or opening tunnel plays with inside/outside of whatever is inside or outside but are inescapably yoked together (google the phrase ichi-soto). That idea is imparted to the viewer at the behest of the foundation. Again information. I humbly submit  a photo essay that attempts to impart this concept. 

The entrance door opens and closes the circle

You walk to the back of the lobby and see a beautiful landscape that transcends inside or outside. 

You are beyond a definition of inside or outside space.

Garden of Heaven

Stairway without Robert Plant wailing….small feet in thong sandals and kimono taking delicate steps admiring the view and thinking about preparing the tea ceremony.

I am not a gardener. But now I believe. Not that I imagine going way beyond house plants for regular care. But this garden is the garden of aesthetic pleasure, earthly delights. If I gush any more I'll embarrass myself, if I haven't already. Lets just say, I visited heaven and I say 'thumbs up'. 

And I feel very fortunate to be able to have snuck in the visit. These pictures are a mere sketch, it is really about being present and absorbing earthly heaven.

First Impressions: Kyoto

This is a copse of bamboo trees at night at a temple in Kyoto. During the autumn different temples do 'light shows' as people walk through the temple gardens. It was Saturday night, it was crowded. It was kind of obvious that it was 'date night'. This was not a pilgrimage, it was entertainment. Smart phones were rampant, taking pictures in the dark. This is one of several (perhaps more to come), of what I got using the 'panorama' setting on my iPhone. 

Last night when we first arrived into Kyoto, when we went out to dinner in the Gion district. It is just bedazzling with shop windows, displays, products of who knows what but so incredibly beautiful….well here are a few displays.

Is this the Manolo's for the kimono set?

Another shrine, this time for jazz

Outside a window that sold these rabbit (kanji) sculptures and next door to a restaurant.

What would your caption be? Mine is 'uh oh'.

This is more about packaging. This sake is served with 'surface tension', easily spilling over into the box that you then pour back into the glass. Just another way to enjoy a glass of sake (which I have been enjoying very very much….rice is such an amazing grain…. At least here it is…..

Tonight at the Okonomiyaki place across the street from the hotel we ate this 

http://www.japan-guide.com/r/e100.html

and yakisoba noodles. We had to wait awhile, being New Yorkers we were convinced it was because we didn't speak Japanese. But when we were eventually served, first with the yakisoba (sautéd noodles and vegetables) it was soooo worth the wait! After years of disappointment, hoping for good sauté, my patience was rewarded! Delicious! Not too salty/greasy/blah starch…but crisp, flavorful with a great spice and ginger, but not hot/peppery, just so delicious. On it's heels came the Okonomiyaki, with a ponzu/hoisin sauce thing brushed on top with scallions…..super yum! While we were waiting, we watched young small, healthy, thin couples eat 3 starters and then as much as we ate. They really packed it away. Beginning with an ice cream soda and a beer! I'm convince that they only eat once a week and we saw that meal….

Meanwhile 2 image of beauty Japan style: 

1.The tunnel at the Miho Museum designed by IM Pei. The rest of the Museum and grounds are spectacular. What a delight to stand in this space. The recent typhoon slowed down the number of buses that could come to this somewhat remote outpost of a museum. If you get to this part of the world, make the trip to see it. (more pix to come).

2. The back of an obi on a very beautiful kimono (shown earlier today on FB and Instagram)., more packaging (sort of). It's wedding season and our hotel, the Westin Miyako is full of them in the lobby, as those date nights end up being wedding weekends a year or two down the line.

Getting a bit out of sequence here. I'm not beyond having my non-conformist/lack of 'sticking to the plan' sensibility not appear in the blog. Considering the source it would be impossible.

Museum, Mirin & Artists

Artist drink, it could have been mirin, with the hope of having their work in a museum, but that is not our story, but we did do all of those things, just differently. Or as they say: same same, but different:

Been on the lam for a bit, basically a lack of wifi…don't worry, I'll catch up. Lack of wifi does not mean a lack of activity, au contraire

So it is back a few days, actually more like a week when we really began to pack it in: Visit to Museum in Gifu - the exhibit was good, the building was terrific. Well it was designed by Arata Isozake. It was beautiful, kind of a Japanese take on a Bertolucci set. But not to diminish it, very much it's own. 

Then we went to a distillery for Mirin - Hakusen Shuzou.. Mirin is part of the trinity of Japanese cooking: Mirin, Dashi and Soy sauce. Mirin is also a wine like sake and the tasting was quite tasty (fun). I learned that in Japanese culture that chopsticks lay horizontally at the table nearest the eater and acts as the 'line' between the eater and the food. Versusu China and other Asian countries where the chopsticks are vertical and to the left, as in knife and fork.

I found the distillery beautiful in it's forms. But I am looking at a lot of 'forms' here this trip. Kind of tea bowl'd over, you'll see in a moment and for a series of moments and entries:

Now onto the first studio tour: Goro Suzuki

He takes the classic forms and really mixes it up. The oribe form, the sake cups made out of stone and fired, imagery that was modern- taxis, electric lamps and naked women. His work is prolific, beautiful and he gets top prices for his wares. A sake cup, called guynomi  can be up to $1000, and not much below, $600 and a tea bowl, called a chawan are up to $6000. Serious prices for venerated artists.

Then onto Toboya Seiya. Our leader, guide and sendai in all this, Jeff Shapiro was an apprentice for him in his youth and has had a friendship with him since. He was a really tough guy to work for back then, but now he is a happy guy, but then again I am not his apprentice.

This kind of work is wood fired, how pottery was originally made. Long before gas or electricity.

We have seen work from centuries ago that are abstract and graphic, abstract expressionist long before that was an art term. It was just a way to do things. This is the 'back of the envelope' crib note version of the history of Japanese pottery. Despite my simplistic history I am with some formidable teachers on the subject. Besides the work is very beautiful, authentic and having these studio tours are amazing no matter how much you know (or can impart in a blog).