#tetsuo takahira

[anamon-book]

みんな不良少年だった　高平哲郎 河出文庫 カバー＝イラスト・本山賢司、デザイン・平野甲賀 フォーマット＝粟津潔 「ディープ・インタヴュー」

[dry-valleys]

   くみあげて

   世にこぞめづれ

   やまぶきの

   花のかふかき

   うじのかわ水

    Scooped up, it is loved by all, the water from the Uji river, infused by the scent of mountain roses.

Ōtagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) poet, nun, calligrapher and potter.

The British Ceramics Biennial is something I’ve been following since 2017 and this is the biggest and best I’ve seen yet; I’ve followed it across the city to this place, The Goods Yard, where ceramics from around the world are shown in what is (no offence to Kasama, Japan or Jingdezhen, China!) still the world capital of ceramics.

This is the second (please see here for the first) collaboration between the BCB and artists from Kasama. Japan’s traditions are ancient (though Kasama is not an old pottery city and has sprung onto the scene quote recently) and we have been learning from one another since Bernard Leach went to Japan in 1909 (we celebrate 100 years of Leach setting up his pottery this year, and it was all because of the Japanese influence).

These artists, all from Kasama, are (1) Takahira Manome, (2) Takuya Maruyama, (3) Tatsushi Nemoto, (4) Tetsuo Kobayashi, (5) Tomoka Nomura, (6) Yukihito Nakata, (7) Yukukatsu Isobe, (8) Hideki Inoue, (9) Giran Sagawa, and (10) Hiroshi Kikuchi.

The Goods Yard itself is an old building, once used to ferry goods from the railway station to the canal; it has been derelict for decades and I, who have lived here my whole life and thought I knew the city, had actually never heard of it until last month, though I’ve now made four visits.

The festival is not on for much longer (I write on 10 October 2021 and it ends on 17 October) but I support the regeneration plan for this building and I hope that, when the festival is back in 2023, the Japanese artists will come here and to other sites in the city and we will see the festival blossom like another cherry tree, which though it fades we have hope of blooming again.

“At day break, I am off to gather clay To make my pottery”

[anamon-book]

ハイブリッドだもんね!　坂田明 構成＝奥成達・高平哲郎 山手書房