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August 15, 2024
 

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CERAMIC SCENE

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 11, 2002
A dream of living pots
Koichi Takita looks more like a Zen monk than a world-renowned ceramic artist. His shaven head and glowing demeanor exude the sense of a man who has attained enlightenment while playing with mud.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 14, 2002
Potter digs in to unearth real 'clay flavor'
The great Mashiko potter Shoji Hamada once wrote that, "the thing to remember is that the simplest clay is the best. Clay itself is already the most complex of mixtures because it is alive, a living thing." When it comes to shaping that "living thing," too many modern potters feel the need to stamp their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jul 10, 2002
Summer sees ceramic talents in full bloom
Crunchy powerhouses of protein and vitamin E, sunflower seeds are much consumed in the West though their health benefits have never really been appreciated here in Japan. When it comes to pottery, we sometimes see himawari (sunflowers) painted on porcelains, but I've never come across a ceramic one complete...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jun 26, 2002
Bringing the tabletop into the gallery
On the cover of the catalog for an exhibition now at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo is -- ready for this? -- a shoyusashi (soy-sauce bottle). I find that quite odd, as the museum houses the hallowed arts of painting, sculpture and the like. A shoyusashi? Come on now, it just doesn't seem...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 8, 2002
Heart and soul in your hands
A list of the things we humans take for granted would be long indeed. Not wishing to embark on a colossal environmental-spiritual- humanitarian itemization, I'll keep my list real short. One item, in fact: a clay mug.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 10, 2002
Remaking form, recapturing spirit
Hand grenades, gas burners and patio furniture are not items usually associated with ancient potting centers, yet in Shigaraki, southern Shiga Prefecture, even these odd items have been fired.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 20, 2002
Clay forms waiting to be unearthed
A lump of clay; what forms sleep undiscovered within? There are many ways potters can shape the "earth" they see, the most common is to throw it on a wheel or rokuro. Other ways include tebineri (hand-pinching), himo-zukuri (coil-building), tatara-zukuri (slab-building) or wari-gata (piece-molding)....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Feb 13, 2002
An art collector's dream on display
"In the mid-1950s, I saw an irresistible inflow of Western culture, mostly American, into war-devastated Japan. I witnessed a fading of our culture, which had been passed to us from generation to generation. As I watched the change, I felt a sense of fear that our next generation might not know what...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jan 16, 2002
Eternal vessels and dreams of clay
Machiko Ogawa's creations are like ancient memories wrought from clay and buried centuries ago, waiting to be discovered today. Like scenes long lost in the maze of the mind, the ceramic artist's work reappears as if emerging from a dream -- a dream formed of clay.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 12, 2001
Diverse splendor in many a jar
The depth and variety of Japanese pottery has enraptured the senses for many a season. As the seasons change and the baton of life is passed on, the beauty of older Japanese pottery remains unwithered, even in this winter season and amid all the changes that have occurred within and without. In a sense,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 14, 2001
To see a world in a bowl of tea
"Kokoro shugetsu ni nitari," which translates as "My mind is like the autumn moon," is a line from a Chinese poem expressing the Zen sensation felt strongly during this harvest season. Pure and reflecting without hesitation, the moon is a metaphor for our hearts and one that all of humanity could do...
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Oct 10, 2001
The mystery and the mastery
Most styles of Japanese pottery are named after the city where they are made, such as Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture, while others bear a family name, such as Raku. However, one style of pottery is named after a place that had nothing do to with its production.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 12, 2001
Power and purity both old and new
The colorful ceramic culture of Kyoto meets the darker, subdued world of Karatsu potter Jinenbo Nakagawa this week at the Tachikichi department store in Kyoto.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 8, 2001
Treasures to be hoarded
Here's an odd request: have a look in my closet.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jul 11, 2001
Pottering in a forest of memory
"A magnificent sunset burns beyond the horizon. Trees are ablaze against the fiery sky. The beauty of the dark silhouettes left an everlasting sensation." These are the words of potter Moriyoshi Saeki from a book published in 1995 titled "The Vibrant Potters of Tochigi."
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jun 13, 2001
Lightning strikes in Isezaki's Bizen
I once asked the veteran Bizen potter Jun Isezaki why he makes certain shapes exactly the same as they were centuries ago. His reply was simple: "What works well need not be changed."
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 30, 2001
Avant-garde work takes top honors at 16th biennial Nihon Togei Ten
The 16th biennial "Nihon Togei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition)" at Tokyo's Daimaru Museum is a must-see for anyone interested in the current ceramics scene.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 9, 2001
The evolution of ceramic form
The creative journey for many an artist begins with an inner dialogue, a conflict, questioning. A voice in the inquisitive mind doubts existing rules and boundaries while challenging the artist to redefine and broaden them.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 11, 2001
Abe's enchanted villa inspires sublime pottery
In peaceful hamlets throughout Japan, local potters work at their own pace while garnering a loyal local following. There are literally thousands of such ceramists, and the serene environment in which they work nurtures and supports their artistic endeavors in subtle ways.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 24, 2001
Jagged little pots dictating form
Asia week had New York City awash with auctions, gallery openings and lectures. Two major auction houses had Japanese art on the block, and five Kyoto potters were exhibiting at the Barry Friedman Gallery in an exhibition organized by Joan Mirviss.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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JNTO promotes sustainable tourism initiatives

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