Enjoying the Pottery Community of Kasama---The Hi Matsuri Pottery Festival--The city of Kasama in Ibaraki
Prefecture is the closest potteryproducing area to Tokyo. This time Iwouldliketointroduce

theattractions of this pottery community,
centering on Kasama’s Hi Matsuri
pottery festival, which is the mostbustling event of the year, as well asways of enjoying them. The Hi
Matsuri pottery festival takes place
everyyear

duringtheso-called

Golden Week, a string of national holidays in Japan lasting from April 29 to May 5. Many
potters and pottery-making companies with kilns in Kasama display their wares at thefestival, which is held in the abundant natural environment of Kasama Geijutsu no Mori
Koen (Kasama Art Forest Park). The Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum and Kasama Collegeof Ceramic Art are also located here. In 2022 more than 200 potters erected tents andparticipated in the festival, which attracted lots of people from far and near. Young andold, men and women, and families came in search of pottery to their liking, some people
even bringing along their pets.
Video of the Hi Matsuri venue: https://youtu.be/NCZI_Tkr0EUIHCSA Café

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What Is Kasama-ware?
When I visited the Hi Matsuri festival, I was surprised by the wide range of colors,
shapes, and designs of the exhibitors’ pottery on display. This rich variety of types makes
it tantalizingly difficult to choose what to buy and is exciting even for someone like me,
a complete amateur who certainly cannot list pottery as a hobby. As I enjoyed looking
around, I began to wonder what Kasama-ware actually was after all, so I visited somepotters in search of an answer.
Tofusha (East Wind Gallery) is a pottery maker operated by a family of four--husband, wife, son, and daughter. I had a chat with the wife, Yoko Sudo. Tofusha’s history
began in 1973, when her husband, Shigeo Sudo, moved to a district to which the city ofKasama was inviting potters to settle in a bid to promote industry and built a kiln there.
He subsequently married Yoko in 1982, and they opened Tofusha. Now called the To noKomichi (Pottery Road), that district has become a well-known spot in Kasama wheremany potters operate kilns. Raised in such an environment, the Sudo’s children
themselves are now engaged in making pottery and pursuing their own ideal works aspotters.
When I asked her why they had chosen Kasama, Yoko replied that while thepositive efforts of the prefecture and city to entice potters to settle here had played a part,another important factor was the liberal atmosphere of Kasama compared with otherpottery-producing regions, which made it easy to move in from outside and engage inpottery making. There are no binding rules that Kasama-ware must be like this or like
that, she said. In addition, for someone like Yoko who studied art in Tokyo, the proximity
to Japan’s capital was an attraction too.
Visiting Tofusha, I was struck by the fact that the works of the four family members
were distinctively individualistic. They all had completely different aims. For example,
Yoko, who studied art in the golden age of modern art, is attracted by figurative works,
so she is good at making objets d’art and ceramic pictures. Although their goals aredifferent, however, Yoko said that the good point about making pottery as a family is thatthe parents can advise the children on such things as the properties of glaze and clay.
When I asked about future goals, Yoko replied that although expanding overseas israther difficult, when Covid-19 subsides, they want to make Kasama-ware known among
foreign tourists as well. They are using Creema for e-commerce. Apparently most online
customers in Japan are women aged from 30 to around 50; sales to China and Taiwan
are also possible.

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International Hospitality and Conference Service Association (IHCSA)Ceramic pictures by Yoko Sudo

Ceramic pictures by Yoko Sudo

Video of Tofusha works: https://youtu.be/J0kp0SECmIs

Inheriting Tradition and Training the Young Generation
The history of Kasama, where many small-scale artistic potters today compete with one
another through their individuality, began in the middle of the Edo period (1603–1868).
It is thought to have started in the latter half of the eighteenth century, when a potter
specializing in Omi-Shigaraki-ware visited the head of the then village, Kuno Hanemon,and instructed him. Then in the middle of the nineteenth century the Kasama domain,
the local government at that time, gave protection to six potters, including the Kunofamily.
I visited the Okuda Seitosho (Okuda Pottery Workshop) and had a chat with Tatsuo
Okuda, the third-generation owner of one of those six potteries that was taken over by
his grandfather. Despite the fact that it was a surprise visit, Tatsuo responded with muchcourtesy and showed me the historic thatched gallery and the splendid climbing kiln,
which his father had built 50 years ago and Tatsuo himself had renovated.
The climbing kiln comprises four chambers, with the temperature dropping, as thekiln rises, by 200 degrees Celsius in each chamber from a maximum of 1,350 degrees.
Although it is possible to bake about 2,000 pieces of pottery of differing sizes, from small
to large, in this kiln simultaneously, in recent years Tatsuo has concentrated not on mass
production but on making small-lot works capitalizing on the special characteristics ofthe climbing kiln. The pieces baked in the climbing kiln that he showed me had anindescribable flavor of natural colors and patterns generated only by the kiln’s heat andred pine firewood ash; no glaze had been used at all. Presumptuously, I imagined theseworks to be the “dishware with the earth’s flavor” that Tatsuo places so much importanceon.
In recent years the city of Kasama has been promoting a project to foster young
potters, and the Okuda Seitosho cooperates by lending its studio and gallery to the city
for practice by graduates of the Kasama College of Ceramic Art. When I asked whetherIHCSA Café

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he gives instruction to these young potters, Tatsuo replied, “I give instruction on kiln
baking, but I don’t say anything about their works. That’s up to the individual.” Onceagain, I sensed the open atmosphere of Kasama, which does not try and paint things inone color.

The climbing kiln at Okuda SeitoshoTwo items baked in the climbing kiln

Video of the gallery and climbing kiln: https://youtu.be/oMPfLRN6nYc

Individualistic Pottery
Hara Tokobo (Hara Pottery Studio)
Sumio Hara of Hara Tokobo, which, like Tofusha, has a studio on the To no Komichi
pottery road, hails from Kanagawa Prefecture. He began training at the Ibaraki
Prefecture Pottery Training Center (now the Kasama College of Ceramic Art) in 1972
and then in 1975 opened a kiln together with his wife Kyoko, who had studied at thesame center.
Hara Tokobo makes mainly everyday items like dishes, cups, and bowls. As afeature of this studio, many vessels are made by applying white slip on Kasama clay andworking on that, although apparently sometimes the best method of expression is toproduce clay that is suited to adding pictures and other craftsmanship by mixing otherclay as well.
When I asked about current themes, Sumio replied that this year they haveexperimented in adding natural patterns by not only applying white slip but also pouring
it on the vessel’s surface and in making a glaze using iron-rich Hakoda stone from theHakoda district of Kasama (the yellowish mug and pot in the video).
I also asked about ways of enjoying Kasama besides the Hi Matsuri pottery festival,and Sumio told me about such events as the Irodori Hatsugama Ichi, a pottery market
held annually at New Year’s; the Kasama Roman trade fair with on-the-spot sales for
local industries and agricultural produce held in October; and the pottery-centered To toKurashi (Pottery and Living) craft fair, which is held around the time of the Culture Day
national holiday in November.

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Like the Hi Matsuri, these events all take place in the Art Forest Park. This parkis a pleasant place for just taking a stroll. It has abundant nature and facilities like theIbaraki Ceramic Art Museum and shops. “Oh yes,” Sumio added, as if suddenly
remembering, “Kasama also produces Hitachi Aki Soba. The soba here is really good!”

Sumio and Kyoko Hara

Characteristic works of Hara Tokobo withpictures drawn on white slip

Video of Hara Tokobo works: https://youtu.be/A7ktCzbT5rYYamasaki Toen (Yamasaki Pottery Garden)
The next place that I visited was the exhibit booth of Masahiro Yamasaki of Yamasaki
Toen, which is also situated on the To no Komichi pottery road. Masahiro comes fromYokohama. Quitting his job as a salaried employee, he opened the kiln in 1978 together
with his father Toshio, who had been training in Kasama before then.
Among the potters that I visited on this trip, Yamasaki Toen is the only one thatuses only Kasama clay. Masahiro explained that they focus not on mixing clay but on thetechnique of changing the pottery’s color by changing the baking method. Aware thatKasama is a chestnut producing region, they often use natural chestnut tree bark ash in
the glaze.
Because it is rich in iron, Kasama clay comes out a reddish-brown color when baked.
However, when the method of reduction firing is used (that is, firing in a state of oxygen
deficit), the color turns blackish. And conversely, when the method of oxidation firing isused (that is, firing in a state of oxygen excess, with fuel completely burned), the color
becomes a whitish-brown. While giving this explanation, Masahiro showed me twovessels baked by the two different methods for comparison. He also noted that he had
experimented for the first time in baking a single vessel using both the oxidation andreduction techniques.

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A plaque from the minister of economy, trade, Mr. Yamasaki holds a new work.
and industry indicating designation as amaster potter
Video of Yamasaki Toen works: https://youtu.be/5GKiMvq3JUg

Keicondo
Among the more than 200 exhibitors at the Hi Matsuri pottery festival, the works ofKeicondo appeared quite different from others on display and had a great impact on me.
Kei was born in Kasama. Because his father was a potter, he told me, he came intocontact with pottery from an early age and, as he grew up, took the joy of making pottery
almost as a matter of course. After graduating from the Ibaraki Pottery Training Center,
Kei took part in the youth overseas volunteer program of the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA), under which he spent two years teaching pottery in Bolivia
in South America. After returning to Japan, he opened a studio in Kasama in 2010.
Kei’s works have a simple design but big impact. When I asked about the conceptbehind them, he replied immediately, “Making simple vessels that bring out the best infood. It’s always the same.” Kei said that he looked at various pottery to find aspects that
he himself likes.
Since Kei hails from Kasama, I asked him to recommend attractions other than theHi Matsuri festival. Coincidentally, or perhaps only naturally, like Sumio Hara hementioned the soba straightaway. “Like most potters in Kasama,” he said, “many ownersof soba restaurants moved here from the Tokyo region. And like the potters,” he addedwith a laugh, “many of them are rather eccentric characters!” Hearing that, I thoughtthat next time I visited Kasama, I would go to an eccentric soba restaurant that servessoba in Kasama-ware bowls.

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International Hospitality and Conference Service Association (IHCSA)Keicondo aims to make simple vessels that bring out the best in food.
Video of Keicondo works: https://youtu.be/MeqZkWtPyck

Both back in the Edo period and today the administration of Kasama supports pottery
making as a local industry. The word “administration” tends to conjure up a stiff image,
but Kasama seems to have an atmosphere in which potters with their own ideals andvalues can freely pursue their own goals without being bound by local tradition. As wellas the fact that Kasama has ideal clay for pottery making, I felt that this atmosphere
has been a very important factor in Kasama’s development as a pottery community.

≪Cooperation≫
TofushaAddress: 2192-3 Kasama, Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Tel./fax: 0296-72-5205

E-mail: eastwind@s7.dion.ne.jp
Okuda Seitosho

Address: 45 Shimoichige, Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Tel.: 0296-72-0717; fax: 0296-72-0744
Hara Tokobo

Address: 2192-19 Kasama, Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Tel./fax: 0296-72-5511

E-mail: haratoukoubou@bridge.ocn.ne.jp
Yamasaki Toen

Address: 2192-21 Kasama, Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Tel./fax: 0296-72-6865

E-mail: ymsk6@kmd.biglobe.ne.jp
Keicondo

Address: 769-1 Tegoshi, Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keicondo (Japanese site only)
E-mail: keicondo.com@gmail.com

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