Of course we also visited Lee’s workshop and anagama in which we did a firing. Lee Love is the organizer of this Mashiko gathering workshop in visiting a lot of prominent Mashiko potters. He did a wonderful job and I think we were all able to see some divinity in the master ... Continue Reading
Other potters we visited are Baba Yochiko, Euan Craig and Douglas Black. Yochiko-san works in her studio by herself. She was an apprentice “deshi” from another quite well-known potter from Mashiko: Takauchi Shugo. Her work is beautiful: white slip with on top an ele ... Continue Reading
One morning, we bought a “bento box” lunch and drove to the Saimyoji temple, way up a hill. Hank, Lee, Jim and Craig. Saimyoji Temple, also known Tokka-san Fumin-in, is a temple of the Busan Shingon School. Its main revered figure is the Eleven-Faced Kanon Bosatsu w ... Continue Reading
We also visited Kamiya Shouichi. He lives also in Mashiko and is a 5 minute walk away from Furuki-san, the tougei place we stayed at. He is a former apprentice “deshi” of Shimaoka-san and worked with David McDonald. Shimaoko had told him, when he was going to build ... Continue Reading
Matsuzaki Ken is born in 1950 in Tokyo and graduated from the Fine Arts Ceramics Department at Tamegawa University in 1972. Directly after that, he apprenticed for five years with Shimaoka Tatsuzo. He established his own kiln, “YuShin (Playful Spirit)” in 1978. Matsu ... Continue Reading
Shimaoka Tatsuzo is born in 1919 in Tokyo. When Shimaoka was a teenager , wondering what to do when he grew up, he visited the Nihon Mingeikan (Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo) in 1938. There he discovered the beauty of Mingei advocated by Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961). Shimaoka ha ... Continue Reading
In the next couple of days, we visited Hamada Shinsaku, Shimaoka Tatsuzo and Ken Matsuzaki. Hamada Shinsaku is Hamada’s Shoji’s second son. He is born in 1929 in Tokyo. He studied Art and Craft at Waseda University before becoming an apprentice with his father at his ... Continue Reading
On Sunday, we visited Gerd Knapper: a potter, ceramic artist, sculpture and person of lots of other trades: painter and decorator, restorer, art metal workshop assistant, sailor, photographer and architect. David, Lee, Hank, Craig, Jean (Lee’s wife), Jim, Swanica, Mike and ... Continue Reading
The next day, we went to “The Mashiko Reference Collection Museum” of Hamada Shoji. Mashiko is a world famous potting center that is forever indebted to one man: Hamada Shoji. He found self-acceptance and understanding from his work, family, friends, and the art he c ... Continue Reading
Finally, I’m back to do some writing. I had some nice days in Singapore, went to the Ancient Civilization Museum, which had beautiful pieces of art displayed. How exquisite some pieces are and so fine and precise; so much time put in. Life is far more hectic nowadays. It is ... Continue Reading
