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Category: Kyoto

Spring in Melancholic Uji: Asahiyaki Pottery and the First Harvest of Tea

By:
Ai Kanazawa
June 18, 2015Kyoto Travels

Each time my tea teacher presented a collection of tea bowls for her students to use, I was invariably drawn to one with a delicate form adorned with a light shade of orange spots. Eventually, I asked my teacher where the bowl came from. She excitedly replied that it was “from Asahiyaki near Kyoto and it is one of my favorite bowls!”

An Asahiyaki tea bowl with kase markings
An Asahiyaki tea bowl with kase markings. This bowl uses clay that is high in iron and is also called benikase, or red kase.

I had never heard of Asahiyaki, but a quick search revealed that it is a small pottery kiln located in the city of Uji, just south of Kyoto. With my curiosity piqued, I decided to pay a visit to Uji during a trip to Japan this past spring.

Located between Kyoto and Nara, Uji is easily overlooked by its larger and more famous neighbors. It is only 15 minutes by fast train from Kyoto and its most famous sight is the old Buddhist temple of Byodoin, which is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Uji bridge
The famous Uji bridge is said to have been first built in 646, and rebuilt countless times subsequently. It is mentioned in the classic ‘The Tale of Genji’ written by Murasaki Shikibu in the early years of the 11th Century.

In the tea world though, Uji is a heavyweight and its name is associated with green tea. Uji tea has long been renowned for its high quality and fragrance, and what this translated into during the warring states era of Japanese history was, power, privilege, intense rivalry, and… traffic jams.

During the Edo (1603–1868) era, the Tokugawa Shogun in Tokyo demanded the first tea to be delivered from Uji annually in a tea-jar procession or ochatsubo dochu. These tea jars were given the highest status and wherever the procession went, all the common folk were required to stop whatever they were doing and kneel to the ground in reverence. They were also not allowed to overtake this procession as it made its slow, snobbish way to Tokyo. This most likely created the first-ever seasonal traffic jams in Japanese history.

A sign at a Uji tea shop depicting a tea caddy
A sign at a Uji tea shop depicting a tea jar.Uji is only about 20 miles west of the pottery town of Shigaraki, where many tea jars were made.

Not only were the ordinary public inconvenienced annually by these tea processions, but they also had no access to the tea as this was considered to be a precious commodity only available to the ruling elites.

Luckily in today’s more egalitarian Japan, tea is available to all and when I set foot in Uji on an extremely hot day in early June, I enjoyed the sheer pleasure of walking through streets lined with tea shops. Many of them were advertising tea from the first harvest of the year that had just been released.

New harvest advertised at the front of a tea shop in Uji
New tea harvest advertised at the front of a Uji tea shop

I walked along the north bank of the Uji river past the Ujigami Shrine and this led me to the Asahiyaki pottery, where my earlier affinity with my teacher’s tea bowl had inspired me to travel to Uji. The Asahiyaki pottery is housed in a building with a thatched roof and a tasteful fabric sign. At the pottery’s gallery, I was met by Matsubayashi Toshiyuki, the son of the 15th generation Matsubayashi Hosai currently in charge of the 400 year-old kiln.

Toshiyuki-san explained that Asahiyaki pots are made from clay that is dug locally and matured over many years, sometimes for more than a century. The pots are thrown and fired in a traditional wood-firing kiln. The distinct spots are called kase, which means ‘deer back’ because it resembles the back of a baby deer. The markings are created when the pots are repeatedly exposed to reduction and oxidation in a single firing.

Asahiyaki pottery gallery in Uji, Kyoto
The Asahiyaki pottery gallery in Uji

I told Toshiyuki-san that the gentle form of these pots was especially intriguing. He explained that it probably stemmed from the distinct method of throwing in which a stick is used to turn and create the momentum on the wheel. “The wheel only turns for a limited amount of time with force and the revolution becomes slow very quickly which creates a distinct gentleness,” he explained.

As I left Asahiyaki pottery, I thought that gentleness is indeed the most appropriate word that captures what Uji is about, perhaps together with a little sense of melancholy. This maybe because I had read that Uji’s name originated from the Japanese word ushi, which means sorrow. Or conceivably it was from the historical depiction of Uji in The Tale of Genji -required reading during my school years- where the forsaken in life were exiled.

Looking down towards Uji river from Ujigami shrine
Looking down towards the Uji river from Ujigami shrine, which is a World Heritage Site

For the next several hours, I strolled around the river bank visiting small shrines and popping into several tea shops. At Rishouen tea shop –recommended by my hosts at Asahiyaki- the kind owner offered me a taste of single origin Uji tea, produced only in limited quantities.

When I finally arrived at Byodoin temple, the highlight for most visitors to the area, it was already late afternoon. I had come to the temple with little in the way of expectation as I had already previewed the building countless times featured on the back of the 10 Yen coin. The famous bronze phoenix on top of the temple roof is also on the 10,000 Yen note, which I see far less often.

Byodoin temple. Photos do not do it justice
The magnificent Byodoin temple in Uji

But when I saw the temple, I was stunned by its sheer exquisiteness. The temple was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a powerful noble who lived in the late Heian (794-1185) era. It was constructed to represent a tranquil paradise that the Heian Buddhists dreamed of after death, the heaven on earth imagined by people weary of all the turmoil they endured towards the end of an era. Magnificent colors had been restored in recent repairs to the temple, and the hues seemed to heighten the temple’s sorrowful beauty in the late afternoon light.

Sannoma
San-no-ma of Uji bridge, the part of the city’s famous bridge where water is drawn every October for Uji’s tea festival. It is said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the 16th Century daimyo and the country’s second great unifier, had water drawn from the same river for a tea ceremony.

As I left this unexpected paradise and walked back towards the train station, I wished that more buildings had survived from the Heian era. I even ambitiously thought that it would be interesting to visit Uji again after revisiting The Tale of Genji.

If you are ever in Kyoto, I highly recommend that you make the time to visit the quietude of Uji, take a sip of the acclaimed tea, and glimpse the tranquility of a bygone era.

 

Beyond the Object: Visiting Kawai Kanjiro’s House in Kyoto

By:
Ai Kanazawa
December 30, 2014Ceramics Kyoto Mingei Travels

If you visit the ancient city of Kyoto, let your schedule include a stop at Kawai Kanjiro’s House, which is hidden away on a narrow backstreet in Gojo-zaka. You will be rewarded with a window into the life of an accomplished potter, who was also a poet, writer, architect, and sculptor.

House
Kawai Kanjiro’s House in the narrow backstreets of Gojyo-zaka in Kyoto. Apart from the wooden sign written by Munakata Shiko and carved by Kuroda Tatsuaki, it looks like an ordinary house from the outside.

Kawai Kanjiro is best known as one of the leading figures of the Mingei movement, but his impact reaches far beyond. A conversation about his life’s work can easily turn into a discussion about the spirit and soul of what it means to be a maker and artist. His house, which is now restored as a museum, is the ultimate expression of his perspective on a life that he loved and embraced to the full.

photo-sho
Photo of Kawai Kanjiro on the left and his handwritten verse “one buys things, one buys oneself”

Kawai (1890-1966) was born in Shimane prefecture to a family of carpenters. He aspired to be a potter and attended the Ceramic Industry Department at Tokyo Higher Technical School (today known as Tokyo Institute of Technology). Not long after his graduation, Kawai had a successful solo exhibition at a major department store in Tokyo in 1921 that cemented his success as a potter. He was especially famed for his mastery of various glazes and ancient Chinese and Korean techniques.

But as his popularity grew, Kawai became increasingly dissatisfied with his work. As a result, he joined the Mingei movement and after spending three years in seclusion, drastically changed his style and started to make functional pottery for everyday use. His style and creativity continued to develop in his later years when he produced many different forms of ceramics, woodcarvings, and literature.

jyoudan
One of the sitting rooms at Kawai Kanjiro’s house. Many items in his house were designed and created by Kawai.
(Photo by Tomoko Matsubayashi)

In recognition of the profound impact that Kawai had on Japanese cultural life, the Japanese government sought to bestow on him the highly prestigious distinction as an Intangible Cultural Property of Japan –more popularly known as a Living National Treasure- and the Order of Culture Medal. But Kawai was not interested with such awards and turned them down. He also declined to be nominated to join the Japan Art Academy, which is the country’s most prestigious artistic organization.

climbing-kiln
Multi-chambered climbing kiln behind Kawai Kanjiro’s house that he inherited from Kiyomizu Rokubei V
(Photo by Tomoko Matsubayashi)

While Kawai does not appear to have given any public explanation as to why he politely but firmly refused these accolades, I wonder if this was because he wanted to remain as a maker empowered by his work, rather than as an artist qualified by his fame.  We often lose our ability to see when fame gets in the way. For Kawai, who said that “to see my new self, so I work”, he found joy in continuing to self-explore through the things that he could bring to life. This is obvious from the sheer volume of output that he accomplished during his lifetime.

Kawai also paid particular attention to how he lived his daily life, because he believed that “lifestyle is work, work is lifestyle”. In 1937, he designed his own house that was modeled after classic Japanese rural cottages from the Hida-Takayama area, and he called upon his own family of carpenters from Shimane to build it.

Irori
The hearth at Kawai Kanjiro’s house that welcomes guests at the entrance.
(Photo by Tomoko Matsubayashi)

This house was Kawai’s residence, pottery studio and gallery with a climbing kiln in the back. But more importantly, it was a place that he filled with his favorite objects. Kawai said that, “one buys things, one buys oneself.” What we choose to acquire and surround ourselves with is a reflection of who we are. It is a simple but powerful observation that can be easily lost in today’s materialistic world. To this day, visitors are reminded of the pleasures of the humble and often forgotten everyday items that Kawai carefully selected for his home.

To me, the most moving aspect of visiting Kawai’s home was the warm, welcoming atmosphere of the space. Beyond the objects, the place was filled with friendliness that stemmed from his generosity of spirit and open mind.

komainu
A wood carving of a dog that functions as an armrest made by Kawai from recycled wood when the house was built in 1937. It is hollow on the inside and Kawai stored his favorite dried persimmons and candy inside and kept it at his side through his life.

Sagi Tamae, the granddaughter of Kawai, wrote about an episode in Kawai’s life in the commemorative issue of Honoho Geijutsu magazine in 2010 that offers an insight into who he was as a person. The story was about what happened when one of Kawai’s housekeepers broke his drying pots when she was trying to take in laundry that was on the pole in the garden of the house.

maruishi
The round stone in Kawai’s garden was a collective gift from his friends in Shimane. They wanted to give him a stone lantern for his newly built house but Kawai asked for a round stone instead. Kawai loved to move the stone around the garden and enjoy it in different places.
(Photo by Tomoko Matsubayashi)

Tamae wrote that Kawai “ran out from his studio and quickly picked up the broken pieces in his apron and told the housekeeper, “don’t worry, don’t worry, just go inside. I can always make more.” Kanjiro was the type of person who worried more about the feelings of the housekeeper than the pots. He chose to become a potter and participate in the Mingei movement as he obviously loved ‘things’ but ultimately he was not fixated about any of them. To Kanjiro, what cannot be seen was far more important then what was visible.”

ishiusu
Two chairs and a table at Kawai Kanjiro’s House. The chairs were designed by Kawai and the table is a flipped mortar for pounding rice mochi that was a gift from Kawakatsu Kenichi, who was a lifelong close friend and fan of Kawai. Kawakatsu secretly entered Kawai’s ceramic pieces for the 1937 exposition in Paris and 1957 triennale in Milan and they won the grand prizes in both events. Over 400 pieces of Kawai’s work collected by Kawakatsu were donated to The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto.
(Photo by Tomoko Matsubayashi)

A visit to Kawai’s house is unlike a trip to a typical museum where ‘things’ are lined up to be admired. Kawai’s abode is a place to be inspired by the delightful life of an artist who never stopped exploring his inner self.

Through his home that he left behind, Kawai continues to share ideas that may enrich our own lives and help us to discover ourselves.  All we need is a childlike curiosity and an open mind to be inspired. Kawai affectionately called this amazing human ability “to be surprised by the act of being surprised” and acknowledged its utmost importance throughout his long and productive life.

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