Japanese arts and crafts select shop Goodies

Japanese culture has been greatly enhanced by the traditional techniques of wonderful craftsmen. We want to send Japanese culture to the world through the craftsman’s artistic skills.

Bizen is a simple pottery which directly reflects the colors of clay and has existed for more than 1.000 years.
You can learn a lot about Japanese pottery from Bizen.

Profile

Issei Ohira
Master of pottery『Bizen-ichi』
Member of 『Bizenyaki toyukai』
Born 1951 in Okayama prefecture. Issei’s father, Seinosuke is a bizen potter and his brother, Takaaki is also a Bizen potter. He grew up in a Bizen family. In 1982 he succeeded as the master of his father’s pottery works『Bizen-ichi』
“Bizen ware for living”, he originated new styles of Bizen ware such as tiles, aroma stands, etc. He has won prizes 15times in Okayama prefectural exhibitions.

Interview with Issei Ohira
「Bizen ware and I」

I asked about his relation to Bizen ware, the attraction of Bizen ware and some ideas for making use of it for daily life to Mr. Ohira who proposed “Bizen ware for living”

Father who became Bizen potter from bricklayer

Q : Your father was a Bizen potter, right ?

Ohira : Yes. He was a bricklayer before. But one day he started learning Bizen ware from Mr.Fujiwara who was a living national treasure, and become a Bizen potter.

Q : Was it easier to adapt because he had the knowledge and techniques of bricklaying ?

Ohira : Maybe. When I was a junior highschool student, my father started making a big kiln, like 3m×10m, on the slope of a hill behind our house. I had to help him after school every day. It took almost 1 year to complete.

Q : Was that what led you to become a Bizen potter ?

Ohira : No. He let me bring soil and feed the kiln. It was really heavy work. I couldn’t stand such hard labor like that, so I found employment at the local credit association.

Q : How did you become a Bizen potter then?

Ohira : It was s strange feeling, after I was away from the pottery, I realized that I missed Bizen ware. I became nostalgic for the feeling of excitement when the pieces were completed. Then I reentered as a pupil of my father.

Fun of Bizen ware

Q : What is the most interesting part of Bizen ware ?

Ohira : I am fascinated by the combination of artificial shapes and natural colors.

Q : Using natural materials, do you sometimes fail to produce the desired effect?

Ohira : Definitely. Sometimes works break by miss matching of kiln temperature and clay. Sometimes the colors of the ware are so much different from what I imagined. Should I feel happy to find the beautiful colors by chance, or feel failure? To put it Simply, I enjoy the variety. It is similar to cooking.

Q : It is very important to get the proper soil for Bizen ware. How do you get it?

Ohira : There is good soil in rice paddies so I make contracts with the farmers to dig.
I sometimes mix it with coarse soil.

Q : You run around looking for the soil and dig. How long does it take to fire?

Ohira : 8-10 days, it is depends on the work.

Q : Do you have to maintain the fire during these days ?

Ohira : Yes. It is important to control the temperature. I work on it 24 hours. I can not do it alone so, I ask other potters to help. Of course I help the other potters too

Q : Do you put your own works into the kiln when you help other potters?

Ohira : Sometimes, yes. It is fun to discover the different colors and patterns from the other kilns.

Q : How about taking pieces out of the kiln?

Ohira : Basically, I let them cool the same number of days as firing. If it takes 8days to complete, it takes 8days to cool.

Q : It takes a really long time to complete !

Ohira : Yes. That’s why we can only make them once or twice a year.

Bizen ware for living

Q : You propose Bizen ware as daily use ware, right?

Ohira : Bizen ware can be useful in our daily lives. Since I realized that, I am interested in Bizen ware as goods for living rather for admiration.

Q : What is the good point of Bizen ware for living?

Ohira : Bizen ware is good for ventilation because, it is unglazed. So, For example, we can keep water pure longer. Many people used to use Bizen water jars at the time that we didn’t have water service. Likewise, using Bizen vase is good for flowers.

Q : It reminds me that when I put beer in a Bizen glass, the bubbles are smoother.

Ohira : Because, there are a lot of small indentations inside of the Bizen glass, bubbles will be smashed against them. Bizen ware has more good points, such as strong, keeping warm well, making sake mellow, etc.

Q : What kind of piece do you work on most ?

Ohira : Tiles.

Q : Tiles ? Is it Tile for floors, or walls ?

Ohira : Yes, both. Bizen Tile not only looks nice but also is very strong and waterproof. And it is not slippery.

Q : It seems that there is many places to use Bizen ware.

Ohira : Yes, of course. The reason why I insist on “Bizen ware for living” is that I believe it makes our life and mind rich by its simple beauty.

Thank you for your time today.