| Customer: Male from Thailand Program: 30-day pottery making in Seto Duration: 2013/11/12-2013/12/11 |
| Message from our customer: My 30-day experience studying ceramics at Kitagama-Kasen with Sensei was a true education in many ways. I started learning pottery in Bangkok about a year ago in conjunction with my glassmaking, but I came to embrace pottery more and more. I feel very fortunate that I found Learn Japanese Ceramics, and even more fortunate to have found Sensei Hiro’s studio in Seto. It is a humble but lovely small pottery town, and its residents take great pride in their town’s history as a founding area for ceramics in the all of human history. Sensei’s own family background in ceramics is quite illustrious, but rather than leaning on the past, he moves forward to make his own way as a potter and as a teacher. Working on the wheel was particularly challenging for me, but with Sensei’s, Kuni’s and Kaori’s input and guidance I learned more from each mistake and each small step of progress. I only wish I could have stayed longer! I also learned about kneading, slab cutting, slab-forming on molds, glazing and reduction and oxidation firing. Kuni and Kaori also taught me how to make my own trimming tools. I also learned of the many kinds of clays and glazes sourced locally and from other parts of Japan. Sensei and Kuni took me to local shops, helping me to select tools and glazes so I can continue my ceramics work at home. Personally, I am happy to have made friends with Sensei, Motoko-san, Kuni-san and Kaori-san during my trip. They are warm, kind, funny and generous with their time. I enjoyed my stay with them immensely, from tea-time, to learning about Japanese daily life, to our nights out at the local Izakaya, where the owner served on pottery from his own collection given to him by many well-known and unknown Seto potters. He has a museum-quality collection that he uses daily. |
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