The Traditional Beauty of Earth & Fire: Bizen Ware

Bizen Ware is counted along with Seto, Tokoname, Tanba, Shigaraki and Echizen as representing the Six Old Kilns of Japan’s Middle Ages. The history behind Bizen Ware is ancient. It is said that the time of its birth began when potters, who had been running [...]]]> Bizen Ware: Characteristics

The Traditional Beauty of Earth & Fire: Bizen Ware

Bizen Ware is counted along with Seto, Tokoname, Tanba, Shigaraki and Echizen as representing the Six Old Kilns of Japan’s Middle Ages. The history behind Bizen Ware is ancient. It is said that the time of its birth began when potters, who had been running the manufacturing of Sue Ware from the Kofun Era, started making more practical and durable everyday goods, spanning from the Heian Era to the early Kamakura Era.

Bizen Ware’s attractiveness lies in its plain simplicity. Before long, its unglazed and refined firing came to be appreciated by masters of the tea ceremony and Bizen Ware was produced in large numbers as masterpiece tea utensils during the Momoyama Era. In its approximately 1,000 years of history up to the present day, not a day has passed when smoke didn’t rise from the kilns of Bizen City’s streets. Five of Japan’s Living National Treasures were born there: the late Toyo Kaneshige, the late Kei Fujiwara, the late Toshu Yamamoto, the late Yu Fujiwara and Jun Isesaki.

From this meeting of fire, earth and people, Bizen Ware was created in kilns where high temperatures of 1200 degrees Centigrade were maintained up to 2 weeks to create a reddish-brown surface texture. Its simple beauty, which brings a mysterious warmth and resurrects a gradually fading core of nature and humanity in contemporary society has impressed many people, and has garnered devotees here and abroad. Even these days, this long historical tradition without peer that has a charm that can be called timeless and should be passed on is being continued by over 300 excellent potters. These potters are preparing kilns in the Bizen area, and creating wonderful products which are being sent all over the world.

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Article and photos by Bizen City Tourist Association

In the Kamakura Era, pots, jars and mortars were frequently [...]]]> It is said that Bizen Ware got its start from a change in the process of Sue Ware of the Kofun Era, and was produced in the Heian Era at the foot of Mt. Kuma as daily-use items such as bowls, plates, platters and roof tiles.

In the Kamakura Era, pots, jars and mortars were frequently made from clay which mainly consisted of mountain earth. However, from that time onwards, works with the characteristic reddish-brown surface of Bizen Ware were started to be created. From the end of the Muromachi Era, a clay gathered from the Inbe region called Hiyose came to be used, mass production using pottery wheels was made possible, and large semi-submerged cave kilns were made.

Afterwards in the Edo Era, there were protection and regulation of the fiefs, small-scale kilns were integrated, large-scale kilns of the north, south and west were built, and the six major pottery studios of Kimura, Mori, Tongu, Terami, Okyo and Kaneshige were arranged into a manufacturing system. However, tea pottery, everyday miscellaneous goods and other containers were also made from the Muromachi Era onwards. The making of these items in large kilns would continue up to the end of the Edo Era, but at that time, the production of porcelain goods in places like Kyoto, Arita and Seto started to flourish which would consequently affect Bizen Ware adversely.

The time from the Meiji Era to the beginning of the Showa Era was a difficult one, but even at that time, the flames of the kilns did not die out as various efforts continued. The man who brought the declining Bizen Ware back to its current prosperity was Toyo Kaneshige. In 1956, Kaneshige was proclaimed as a National Living Treasure or “a Bearer of Important Intangible Cultural Assets”. This was the catalyst for everybody put their efforts together and get themselves out of a very dark period in history. In addition, it was from this time that not just within Japan but even abroad, the popularity of the classically Japanese Bizen Ware increased and so after the passing of Kaneshige, Kei Fujiwara, Toshu Yamamoto, Yu Fujiwara, Jun Isesaki and other National Living Treasures started to turn out in great numbers.

Today, writers and potters alike will continue to create, step by step, until works of great individuality are made in a traditional style.

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Article by Bizen Ware Ceramics Friendship Society

Toyo Kaneshige was born in Inbe, Bizen City, and became a National Living Treasure in 1956. He became a potter through his father, Baiyo Kaneshige. Pursuing the beauty of Old Bizen with added research and a strict intrepid style, he was successful in bringing out the sheen of the Momoyama style. [...]]]> Kaneshige Toyo (1896 – 1967)

Toyo Kaneshige was born in Inbe, Bizen City, and became a National Living Treasure in 1956. He became a potter through his father, Baiyo Kaneshige. Pursuing the beauty of Old Bizen with added research and a strict intrepid style, he was successful in bringing out the sheen of the Momoyama style. Reviving the beauty of Momoyama for modern times from the Meiji Era, Kaneshige is considered to be “The Ancestor Who Rejuvenated Bizen Ware”, the artist who led the dying Bizen Ware to its current glory. Fujiwara Kei (1899 – 1983)

Kei Fujiwara was born in Honami, Bizen City, and became a National Living Treasure in 1970. After attaining his goal as a writer, he began Bizen Ware from the age of 40, and undertook Toyo Kanashige’s training. Creating his works from the ideas of “plain, simple, clear”, Fujiwara was a master potter who established “Kei Bizen” for its magnanimous warm-hearted style. Yamamoto Toshu (1906 – 1994)

Toshu Yamamoto was born in Inbe, Bizen City, and became a National Living Treasure in 1987. Trained under artists such as Yaichi Kasube, he was a master of the pottery wheel. Many of his masterpieces are tea and sake vessels. His delicate and refined style has been celebrated by tea ceremony masters all over, and he himself is known as “Teacup Toshu”. Fujiwara Yu (1932 – 2001)

Yu Fujiwara was born in Honami, Bizen City, and became the 2nd generation of his family to achieve National Living Treasure status. Apprenticing under his father, Kei Fujiwara, Yu Fujiwara inherited his style. Possessing an ambitious and modern view, Fujiwara also had a generosity which referenced Yayoi earthenware. Preserving the essence of the beauty of Bizen Ware, he created his works with a universal aesthetic sense. Isesaki Jun (1936 – )

Jun Isesaki was born in Inbe, Bizen City on February 20, 1936, and became a National Living Treasure in 2004. Isesaki graduated form Okayama University’s Education Department. He entered the world of pottery under the tutelage of his father, Yozan. In 1996, he received the Sanyo Newspaper Prize for contributing to culture. In 1998, he became the director of the Japan Industrial Arts Association, and its secretary-general of the Chugoku branch. He was certified as a Bearer of Important Intangible Cultural Assets for Okayama Prefecture. In 2002, Isesaki decorated the lobby of the new Prime Minister’s residence, and in the next year, he was responsible for projects such as the interior design of Okayama University Student Association Hall. He has put his own stamp into the field of ceramic art. >> Characteristics
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Article and photos by Bizen City Tourist Association ]]> http://www.explorejapaneseceramics.com/basic/towns/bizen/bizen-potter.html/feed 0 http://www.explorejapaneseceramics.com/basic/towns/bizen/bizen-photos.html http://www.explorejapaneseceramics.com/basic/towns/bizen/bizen-photos.html#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:00:19 +0000 admin http://ejc.sakura.ne.jp/?p=293 >> Characteristics >> History >> Potter

Photos by Bizen City Tourist Association