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  • POP UP CRAFT SHOW at the Den on Laurel Street Dec. 3rd & 4th November 23, 2022
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Shudei by Yamada Yutaro: The Bona Fide Red Teapot

By:
Ai Kanazawa
July 21, 2021Ceramics Yamada Yutaro

Kyusu by Yamada Yutaro in our shop->

While many red or shudei teapots are created using clay mixed with manufactured red iron oxide these days, the teapots of Yamada Yutaro are made using clay rich in iron dug out over half a century ago from under the rice paddy fields near Tokoname in Central Japan.

Shudei Hohin (teapot with no handle) by Yamada Yutaro of Tokoname, Japan
Black and Shudei Kyusu teapot by Yamada Yutaro

“I found out that back in the day, the best red clay was found in the paddy fields of neighboring towns like Kaminoma and Kowa,” Yutaro said. ‘Back in the day’ refers to the time when the famous Chinese tea pot maker Jin Shiheng arrived in Tokoname from Yixing in China in 1858 to teach local potters.

When I was growing up in the 1970s, most households in Japan owned a ceramic Kyusu teapot and a great majority of them were red. I still fondly remember sipping tea brewed in a vermillion teapot sitting around a heated table watching sumo with my grandparents. Owning a Kyusu teapot must have been a tradition dating all the way back to Jin’s arrival in Meiji Japan. Sadly, this is no longer the case in Japan where many people today get their tea from vending machines.

Paddy rock inherited from a local pottery that was excavated half a century ago.
Photo courtesy of Yamada Yutaro
This rock will eventually be processed into shudei clay
Photo courtesy of Yamada Yutaro

To make his shudei clay, Yutaro processes dried rock inherited from a now defunct local pottery. Preparing the clay is a physically demanding and time-consuming process, but as with everything else in craft, being uncompromising is often the best way to making good work.

Processed Shudei clay
Photo courtesy of Yamada Yutaro

I’ll leave it to the tea aficionados and scientists to judge if a shudei tea pot actually makes the tea taste sweeter and mellower as is reputed. But the fact is that the shudei ware made by Yamada Yutaro is not just about the looks. His teapots are made using carefully selected material with due process and attention that has been practiced and refined over the centuries by numerous generations of potters. I hope that Yutaro’s beautiful and painstakingly prepared work will entice more people to enjoy tea brewed in a teapot instead of coming from a plastic bottle.

 

EN -Circle-
Kazu Oba in San Diego September 4 & 5, 2021

By:
Ai Kanazawa
July 18, 2021Events, Workshops and Webinars Ceramics Kazu Oba

Ceramics by Kazu Oba in our shop ->

How does September in sun-drenched San Diego sound? If you love the beaches, nature, and craft, this coming Labor Day weekend might be the perfect time to come and enjoy our laid back city when Entoten will host potter Kazu Oba from Colorado for an outdoor pop-up event at The Den on Laurel Street.

For the past 17 years, Kazu has dedicated his work to making functional, everyday ware used for food at home and at restaurants. Come and meet Kazu during the event, when he will share with you his passion for creating handmade ceramics for your table.

Kazu Oba throwing pots on a portable kick-wheel in La Jolla, San Diego, in November 2017

Saturday & Sunday, September 4 & 5, 2021
11am-5pm
at The Den on Laurel Street
(Click to launch Google Maps)
205 Laurel St. #104
San Diego CA 92101

Other work featured during the pop-up event includes:-
– Bamboo Baskets by Takami Yasuhiro
– Glasswork by Floresta Fabrica
– Tenugui by Harada Fumiko
– Chasen tea whisks by Tanimura Tango

In addition, a short stroll from the Den is the Mingei International Museum, the only Mingei museum outside of Japan, located inside the world famous Balboa Park. The Mingei will complete an ambitious three-year renovation and reopen to the public on September 3rd, and entry into the Museum will be free for all during the Labor Day Weekend. So come to San Diego and join our weekend celebration of craft!

 

 

Oribe Coffee Pour Over Sets by Kuriya Masakatsu at Bay Park Coffee in San Diego

By:
Ai Kanazawa
July 5, 2021Ceramics Kuriya Masakatsu

Coffee Pour Over Sets and Cups by Kuriya Masakatsu in our shop->

I drink coffee every morning and to prepare it, I use a ceramic pour over set by Mashiko potter Kuriya Masakatsu. The dripper fits the paper filter (v60 #1&2 Hario) perfectly, and the pitcher’s long pointed spout pours beautifully into any handmade cup. They are ideal for me and maybe for you too, so I am very happy to share Kuriya-san’s Oribe work in my online shop for the first time in 8 years.

Oribe coffee pour over set by Mashiko potter, Kuriya Masakatsu
Elegant and bold Oribe glaze by Kuriya Masakatsu

Many of you said that the Entoten pop-up event in June in Banker’s Hill was a great opportunity to see and touch craft in person after I closed my small gallery at the height of the Covid Pandemic in 2020.  I wanted to find a place where people can see Kuriya san’s work in person, so I asked Ryosuke Goto, the owner of Bay Park Coffee, if he could let me borrow a small corner inside his shop to display Kuriya-san’s work, and he kindly agreed!

The display shelf and a cup of cortado at Bay Park Coffee in San Diego

Bay Park Coffee is a popular local coffee shop only a few minutes away by car from my house. Ryosuke took over the ownership of the shop in 2018 after running a coffee stand inside a county office building for 4 years. It is a laid back and friendly coffee shop where Ryosuke and his staff takes the time and care to talk to you and get to know you.  “I want Bay Park Coffee to be a place for people to gather and meet, a hub of new encounters and beginnings,” he says. Ryosuke also loves music and tea and hopes to collaborate with musicians and tea farmers by hosting them at Bay Park Coffee in the future.

Ryosuke working behind the counter at Bay Park Coffee

So please stop by at Bay Park Coffee, have a cup of your favorite espresso drink pulled from their beautiful La Marzocco machine by their attentive staff, and see and hold Kuriya san’s work in person. The human aspect is the key ingredient for a good cup of coffee, don’t you agree?

While you drive down Morena Blvd., look out for the new trolley stations that are almost finished for San Diego’s Mid-Coast Trolley Extension.  I’m surprised that hardly anyone around me talks about the trolley, but I’m excited, because coming from Tokyo, I love being on public transportation to gaze out the windows, people watch, and read as I go places.  In November, the trolley extension will finally open and I will definitely take it to enjoy our newly connected community and get a cup of cortado from Bay Park Coffee.

Coffee Pour Over Sets and Cups by Kuriya Masakatsu will be available July 5th (Mon)-18th (Sun) 2021 at Bay Park Coffee: 4130 Napier St, San Diego, CA 92110 (Click for Google Maps)

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