Category: Ceramics

New Ceramics by Sakai Mika and Mara Des Bois Strawberries from Chino Farm

By:
Ceramics Food and Craft Sakai Mika

Today, I finally finished adding many new colorful nerikomi pots by Sakai Mika in my shop that you can browse from the link here->.

Nerikomi Ceramics by Sakai Mika and Mara Des Bois Strawberries from Chino Farm

Mika’s cheerful ceramics are a perfect antidote to the gloomy weather that we have recently been experiencing here in San Diego. The locals call these spring months “May gray” and “June gloom”, and this time of the year can be quite cloudy and cool in coastal Southern California. This spring has felt especially cold to me, and I’ve been longing for the arrival of a sunny summer after having experienced an exceptionally wet winter.

But today, the sun finally made a rare appearance, so I got motivated to head out to Chino Farm, the famed local farm in Rancho Santa Fe, which is about a 20 minute drive from my house. Chino Farm was started in 1969 by Junzo Chino, who came to the U.S. from Hashigui in Wakayama prefecture, Japan, in the early 1920s. The farm was made world-famous by chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley for the exceptional quality and freshness of its fruit and vegetables.

Chino Nojo Farm Stand in Rancho Santa Fe, CA

Every time I go to the Chino Nojo (which is their official name meaning farm) stand, I tell myself that I should come here more often because they grow so many varieties and make them available for us. I often discover new types of vegetables and fruits, and learn what is truly in season here in Southern California.

t Lettuces at Chino Farm

Today at the farm stand, there were many different kinds of lettuces. I bought a head of frisée, and, of course, it’s strawberry season so I got some pearly little Mara Des Bois strawberries. These fragrantly soft and delicious harbingers of summer are probably only grown by the Chinos around here. I find that their distinct aroma reminds me a little of… Japanese ramune soda.

If you are ever in San Diego, I urge you to make time to visit the legendary Chino Farm Stand in Rancho Santa Fe. Make sure to bring cash or a check, and now they also even accept Venmo!

Chino Farm Stand
6123 Calzada Del Bosque, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92091 (Click for Google Maps)

Mara Des Bois Strawberries at Chino Farm

Pop Up Craft, Stationery, and Clothing Show at The Den on Laurel Street Apr. 15th & 16th

By:
Events, Workshops and Webinars Ceramics Sakai Mika

Our Spring 2023 pop-up event will take place at:

The Den on Laurel Street
April 15th & 16th from 11am – 5pm.
205 Laurel St. #104 San Diego 92101 (Click for Google Maps)

The pop-up will feature over 100 pieces of colorful ceramics by Sakai Mika, a Japanese Nerikomi ceramic artist based in Shizuoka prefecture. Nerikomi ceramics are made using colored clay that are stacked and cut to create slabs of different patterns.

Nerikomi Ceramics by Sakai Mika

Also for this event, Entoten has invited Hightide Store DTLA, a boutique stationery store that opened in Downtown LA in 2018. Hightide is headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan, and they are known for functional and high-quality original stationery lines.

Hightide Store DTLA

We are also happy to announce that there will be another special guest joining us for the event!

YAMMA Sangyo is a clothing brand established by designer Yamasaki Nana in 2008. By employing women -especially mothers and grandmothers- who are skilled and experienced in sewing clothing, Yamasaki sought to radically change the fashion industry standard of mass production that leads to enormous waste. The clothing by YAMMA Sangyo have long lasting designs and are made using natural fibers, mainly Aizu cotton, a traditionally woven cotton from Fukushima region that dates back over 400 years. 

Clothing by YAMMA Sangyo

Please join us for craft, stationery, clothing, Japanese tea, and conversation.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Gohonte -A Natural Pop of Color: New Ceramics by Inoue Shigeru

By:
Ceramics Inoue Shigeru

New Ceramics by Inoue Shigeru ->

It has been a while since I’ve introduced new work by the Nagoya based potter Inoue Shigeru. This is because his ceramics has been gaining popularity in Japan since we debuted him here in the US in 2018. This long wait is understandable though because Inoue-san’s work is truly unique, and a single and in-demand potter can only make so much. So I’m delighted that I am able to show new work by him that includes beautiful green ash glazes that he has been experimenting with.

New ceramics by Inoue Shigeru

Inoue-san is continuing to use rough and crumbly unprocessed clay that is extremely difficult to form. He applies natural slip and glazes that are mixed using feldspar exposed to the rain and sun. When I met him over 5 years ago, I was shocked to see how rough his hands were from working with this difficult clay and mixing the slip and glazes. But he is adamant about using these natural materials and methods because only they can create the desired depth and rusticity in the finished work.

He fires his pots in a gas kiln with minimal airflow, known as reduction firing, which deprives oxygen from the kiln. By doing so, he forces oxygen to be drawn out of the clay bodies and glazes. This firing method causes random pink shades to appear in the glaze, known as gohonte, that are much desired by pottery enthusiasts.

Gohonte on mini kohiki bowl by Inoue Shigeru

I think that the gohonte is even more visible in this recent batch of his work, which is perfect for the soon to arrive spring.

Harmony with Food: Ceramics by Kojima Yosuke in Iga

By:
Kojima Yosuke Ceramics

Wood-fired Ceramics by Kojima Yosuke in our shop ->

Deep, shallow, and in almost every conceivable size and form, Japanese food vessels are perhaps the most diverse in the world, and Iga potter Kojima Yosuke creates a staggering variety of them. His outstanding work that uniquely harmonizes with food and flowers has been selected by many boutique restaurant owner-chefs in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo.

A small sample of wood-fired tableware made by Japanese potter Kojima Yosuke
Sake vessels by Iga potter, Kojima Yosuke
Iga jar by Kojima Yosuke holding Japanese anemone.
His austere vases are great for arranging flowers, branches and grasses from the field

“I feel humbled that food professionals pick my work because I know that their job is extremely hard every day” says Kojima-san, who once aimed to become a chef himself by attending the Kyoto Culinary Institute.

Kojima-san makes his work in the historic pottery town of Iga, just a few miles east of another famous pottery town of Shigaraki. The two towns share an identical stretch of high-quality, chunky white clay deposit that once lay under the basin of lake Biwa, an ancient tectonic lake dating to at least 4 million years ago (the current version of the lake is located further north in Shiga prefecture).

Japanese potter Kojima Yosuke working at his studio in Iga, Mie Japan
Photo courtesy of Kojima Yosuke

The origins of Iga kilns can be traced back to the pots made for agricultural use around the 8th century, but its fame grew from the time of Tsutsui Sadatsugu (1562-1615), a daimyo of Iga-Ueno domain. Under Tsusui, and later under the Todo clan, the region produced ceramics with elaborately calculated effects of ash and fire for utensils used in the Way of Tea (chanoyu).

Iga became famous for flower vases and water jars that were fired multiple times in the wood-firing  kiln. These rustic pots with warps, cracks, bumps, burns, and covered in some parts by clear green ash glaze were considered the epitome of austere wabi aesthetic, and were much sought after by tea practitioners of that era.

Kojima Yosuke’s pottery studio in Iga, Mie prefecture

Perhaps it is because Kojima-san grew up steeped in this vigorous pottery tradition, after graduating culinary school in 1997, he became intensely interested in making bowls, plates and other containers for food and flowers. He changed course and learned pottery from his own father, Kojima Kenji, an Iga pottery heavyweight in Japan, famous for his dynamic and original style of wood-fired work. After the apprenticeship, the younger Kojima-san set up his own studio and kiln in 2003, a few minutes walk from his father’s studio, in Marubashira, Iga.

“My focus is on the unique effects on clay fired with wood,” Kojima-san says. Many of his pieces are fired multiple times in the wood kiln, and he fires his small wood-kiln at an astounding frequency of around 30 times a year.

The small wood-kiln that potter Kojima Yosuke fires about 30 times a year. His larger pieces are fired in an anagama, together with his father, Kojima Kenji who lives 10 minutes away.
Potter Kojima Yosuke’s pottery studio and shop in Iga, Marubashira

The first time I met the younger Kojima-san was in 2019, when I rudely interrupted his firing by asking directions to visit his father. I was visiting Iga with a pottery tour group from the US. At the time, I was already in love with Kojima-san’s work– which I had discovered through a yakitori restaurant account in Osaka– and had been following him on Instagram for a while, but I didn’t know he was the son of Kojima Kenji. 

In this batch of work by Kojima-san, I selected a wide variety of dishes so that you’ll be able to get an idea of his scope of work. I know that matched dishes are the norm at dining tables here in the US, but I hope that you will use this opportunity to explore the joy of plating, eating, and drinking with unmatched and uniquely shaped dishes by this remarkable Iga potter. I guarantee that these vessels will be an inspiring part of your meal.

Iga wood-fired ceramics by Kojima Yosuke
Rice ball with cucumbers on an Iga wood-fired plate by potter Kojima Kenji

 

That Delicious Steam

By:
Ceramics Tokoname Yamada Yutaro

Tokoname clay teapots by Yamada Yutaro in our shop->

Tokoname flat kyusu and hohin teapots by Yamada Yutaro

Tea consumption goes up 5 fold during the winter in my house. Hot tea for warmth is only part of the reason, because I’m also in pursuit of the delicious steam during these coldest months of the year. 
New Tokoname teapots by Yamada Yutaro for your tea and steam in Entoten shop today.

Tokoname teacup and teapot by Yamada Yutaro

The Unfolding: Ceramics by Takahashi Nami

By:
Ceramics Takahashi Nami

Ceramics by Takahashi Nami in our shop ->

A flower bud yet to open is more desirable to display in a Japanese tearoom than one already in bloom. When a camellia in a vase opened too quickly during practice, my tea teacher exclaimed, “it was closed half an hour ago but it’s already open!”

I find that it is uniquely Japanese to prefer a bud holding its potential within over the prominent display of a blossom in its prime. Ceramic artist Takahashi Nami’s work is an expression of this distinct Japanese aesthetic.

Porcelain vase by Japanese ceramic artist Takahashi Nami. The Japanese prefer displaying a bud holding its potential within than over the prominent display of a blossom in its prime.

“I’m strongly attracted to the beautiful lines and forms of seeds, fruits, and flower buds found in nature,” Nami said, when I asked her about what inspires her work. Nami’s work is created using slip molds by casting plaster models in a ceramics technique called slip casting. “The forms and lines are of utmost importance in my work,” Nami continued, “and slip casting is best suited to create the desired forms and lines in porcelain.”

Nami grew up in Tokyo and vaguely wanted to become an artist at a very young age because she loved drawing. In 7th grade, her art teacher introduced her to ceramics when she became infatuated with clay and decided that she wanted to work as a ceramic artist in the future. She chose to attend Musashino Art University Junior College of Art and Design in Tokyo to study ceramics.

Takahashi Nami’s porcelain vases are asymmetrical from all angles. Each piece is slip cast, and a fretsaw is used to remove excess clay on the surface while it is still leather hard. When they are dry, Nami uses boxcutter blades and sandpaper to smooth out the surfaces and sharpen the edges before bisque firing.

After graduating in 1997, Nami continued to study ceramic sculpture at the National School of Ceramic Art (Istituto Statale d’Arte per la Ceramica) in Faenza, Italy, for two years. “In the Japanese university I mostly learned to make tableware, but I was always interested in ceramic sculptures, so I decided to go to Italy,” she said. She made terracotta sculptures because she liked the clay’s texture and tones. “The colorful and unique forms and free expressions of Italian ceramics was so interesting,” she recalls.

Nami was also exposed to exhibits of prominent Japanese contemporary ceramic artists at the International Museum of Ceramics, which was right next door to her school in Faenza. She saw works by Raku Kichizaemon XV (Jikinyu) and Fukami Sueharu. “Seeing the work of Japanese ceramic artists while studying abroad made me realize the exceptional quality of Japanese ceramics,” Nami said. So after finishing her course in Faenza, Nami decided to return to Japan to establish her studio.

In Japan, Nami started working with porcelain because she had a yearning to work with white clay. She initially made sculptural installations for art galleries, but soon began creating tableware at the request of other galleries. “I made sculptures and tableware but avoided making teaware and tea bowls,” Nami recalls, “because I felt they were very noble types of wares, with many rules, and I was very afraid that people would be critical.”

A kiln loaded with tableware and shelves with slip molds in the ceramic studio of Takahashi Nami 
Photo courtesy of Takahashi Nami

But that all changed when Hayashiya Seizo (1928-2017) –the best description of Hayashiya’s work is to use Google translate on this page–a prominent tea master, ceramics expert, and former curator of Tokyo National Museum, became interested in Nami’s work and encouraged her to make tea bowls. Since then, Nami has been working to develop larger vessels for the tearoom while receiving advice from other tea masters.

This development in Nami’s work led to numerous accolades. In 2016, she was selected as The Best New Artist at the 63rd Japan Kogei Crafts Exhibition, and in 2018 was awarded Grand Prize at the 11th Tea Ceramics Exhibition at the Toki City Cultural Promotion Foundation. “To be encouraged by an expert like Hayashiya Sensei was a huge push forward,” Nami explained about her jump into tea ceramics. Through Hayashiya, Nami had the chance to hold some of the most famous historic tea bowls, including Muichimotsu by Raku Chojiro. Hayashiya encouraged Nami to see and touch teaware, insisting that they can only be understood by holding them by hand.

Porcelain tea container by Takahashi Nami

And the most surprising aspect of Nami’s work is the warmth of the matte porcelain with sculptural and crisp lines. “I borrow the capacity of soft white clay to express beauty found in nature,” Nami explained about the power of her material. Her work opened my eyes to the unexpected ability of porcelain to capture the tenderness of a budding flower. When you hold her work in your hands, I guarantee that you will be filled with anticipation for them to unfold.

A close up of a sake pourer and cups by Takahashi Nami

Thank You for Coming to The Den to Meet Potter Kazu Oba

By:
Events, Workshops and Webinars Ceramics Kazu Oba

Entoten’s craft pop-up at The Den on Laurel Street over Labor Day weekend was a huge success! Thank you for taking the time to come and meet Kazu and to support his work. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here are some photos of the event, taken by our friend Tomoko Matsubayashi.

I hope to organize another pop-up event at the Den this December, so look forward to seeing you then.

 

 


A Unifying Respect: New Ceramics by Mitch Iburg

By:
Ceramics Mitch Iburg

Ceramics by Mitch Iburg in our shop ->

Minnesota-based potter Mitch Iburg’s latest collection of work is quiet, with simple forms and surfaces. The work reminded me of the unglazed and mostly undecorated Yayoi period pottery in Japan’s ancient history, an era generally accepted to be between 300 BCE and 300 CE.  When I told him this, Mitch reminisced about the time we first connected in 2014 and said, “[back then] my interest was more in the very aggressive and bold wood fire surfaces.”

Ceramics by Mitch Iburg made in 2021 with foraged Minnesota clay, sand, and minerals.
Wood fired Tokkuri made by Mitch Iburg in 2014, when Mitch was more interested in melted ash deposits on wood-fired work

I enjoy looking at Yayoi pottery. Whenever I visit Tokyo’s National Museum, I’m one of the few visitors pottering around in the dark and deserted first floor of the museum’s Heiseikan wing where there is a chronologically arranged exhibition of Japanese archeology. I have often wondered what caused the drastic change in the style of pottery from Jomon (14000-300 BCE), which was highly decorated with ostentatious forms, to Yayoi that is very minimal and often with no decorations.

Stem cup from the Yayoi period ca. 100–300 H. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm) D. 3 7/16 in. (8.8 cm) Earthenware
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

“After firing in mostly electric kilns for a few years I get much more joy from the simple qualities of the natural clay,” Mitch explained. “Much of the historical work I find myself drawn to these days has a similar quality.” The Minneapolis Institute of Art has a collection of Chinese Han dynasty vessels, Korean Silla ware, African vessels, and several works from the Jomon and Yayoi periods, and Mitch says he discovers something new from them every time he visits the museum.

Tokkuri with Kaolinitic clay finish by Mitch Iburg, 2021

After learning what inspires Mitch, I realized that the draw of Mitch’s work and Yayoi pottery is the unspoken respect for the character of the surface. Mitch evolved to prefer the natural beauty of the exterior without obscuring it with ash, and perhaps the Yayoi people grew to enjoy the clay surface without decorations. Regardless of the era and background, people can identify simple, unpretentious beauty. And we can all share our fascination for the Earth and its history.

Shudei by Yamada Yutaro: The Bona Fide Red Teapot

By:
Ceramics 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:
Events, 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!