tobe yaki

Then I moved out of Kyushu to the next island, Shikoku.

Tobe is another porcelain production area and half-hour-bus-journey away from the centre of Matsuyama, Ehime. 

Tobe yaki had been making potteries but started porcelain in the late 18th. It started as byproduct of the whetstone but when they found quality clay it became the local industry. They started Kurawanka and have been producing tableware for the daily use. When Soetsu Yanagi, Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada visited Tobe in the 1950s, their design was refined keeping the feel of folk craft. That is now known as Tobe's identity.

Tobe yaki came to London 3 years ago and had an exhibition organised by somebody in the British Museum (I think..), and some London potters were invited too to their party at Japanese embassy. Then we were given nice lecture and a soba noodle cup as souvenir! Since then I wanted to visit where it's made and say "thank you".

The cup was made in the biggest factory in the town Baizan gama. Their factory was nearly at the top of the hill. They have a small museum and a shop on the premise. They also let us go into the factory to see the craftsmen's skill. So here are some pictures.:

(The picture on the top) Some are made with jigger and jolly.

Some are thrown.

Some are slip-cast.

 The cup gets handles in an amazing speed.

Bisqueware painted with gosu colour...

gets evenly covered with transparent glaze,... (The timing and the smooth movement is crucial.) 

 and gets the glazed surface smoothed and the bottom cleaned...

and gets jam packed and goes into the firing.
There was painting studio upstairs but no enter was allowed. All the process is divided by the tasks clearly and the each craftsman was getting their job done very smoothly. It sounds like a factory but it's got nice calming atmosphere like their pots.
There are a lot more smaller potteries in Tobe and I visited a few more but started feeling like disturbing their job so I came down the hill to see town and more.. (in another post!)

そして四国に渡り、訪れたのは砥部焼です。愛媛は松山の中心から30分程バスで山手に向かうと砥部の町があります。伝統産業会館のすぐそばには坂上真民さんの記念館もありました。
砥部焼は伊予砥の副産物として江戸時代に始まったそうです。その後、陶土の発見もあり、波佐見に次いでくらわんか碗などを作り、地場産業として発展しました。砥部焼を語る上で欠かせないのが、1950年代に民芸運動の指導者柳宗悦、バーナードリーチ、濱田庄司らが訪ねたことで、手仕事のたくさん残っていた砥部焼は高く評価されました。その後、柳の書生であった鈴木繁男が指導にあたったのが梅山窯でした。
梅山窯では資料館とお店の他に工場見学もさせてもらえます。工程のそれぞれに職人さんがいて、流れるような動きで作業をこなしていく様子をじっくり眺める事ができます。工場はとても大きかったですが、暖かい静かな雰囲気が流れていて砥部焼の持つ雰囲気はこういうところで生まれるのかもしれないと思いました。
砥部焼は3年程前にロンドンで展示会をしたことがあり、大使館でのパーティーに陶芸に携わる者も招待されました。その時にお土産としてそば猪口を頂いたので、念願かなって直接礼をしたところ、いろいろお話をしてくださいました。鈴木繁男さんが残していったものを受け継ぐこと（今は工藤省治さんという方が若手の育成にも力を注いでいます）、今の日本の生活に合わせて作っていくこと、そしてまた海外へ持っていくという別次元のこと、、、。私もいろいろと考えさせられました。