Master Potter Shiro Tsujimura teaches Prime Minister

 

When the student is ready the master appears :

 

Past Japanese PM, Morihiro Hosokawa left the tough political arena for another path that was possibly just as demanding. After retiring from Japanese politics in 1998, he decided to retreat to a quieter life in the countryside of Japan. The plan was to do some reading, a bit of contemplation and stop to smell the cherry blossoms. But then on a whim he decided to learn pottery. Leafing through a pottery book  wondering who would be an appropriate teacher, Shiro Tsujimura caught his attention, particularly for his Shigaraki pottery. Additionally his reputaion for being a gruff and wild spiritied master supported  his decision as he didn’t want favouritism from being an ex PM.

 

 

 

The Elusive Tea Bowl Workshop

Shiro Tsujimura at The Elusive Tea Bowl Workshop

 

When Shiro Tsujimura  was younger he considered becoming a Zen monk, and underwent formal training at Sanshoji, a Zen temple monastery, until he took up the discipline of clay at the age of 22. He was no stranger to an austere lifestyle as Morihiro discovered after he was accepted to study with him. Shiro built his house and studio in the mountains at Nara, where he  lived with his wife, 3 large dogs, around 20 cats and the bats, moths and insects that visited through the generous gaps in the walls. Sometimes for meals they would roam the woods looking for wild mushrooms and Hosokawa had to adapt to no mobile phone usage and an outside toilet made entirely of wood.

Tsujimura would rise at 6am and go to his wheel and start throwing and go through to mealtime around 7 pm.  Hosokawa sat next to him at another wheel each day and watched and also threw clay. His instructions were succinct. ” Chuck it ” for abandon that attempt and start again, ” you ask too many questions ”  if a question was asked and “stupid man” – for some encouragement. There is a saying, ” the less a master tells you the more you learn “. While in the studio, department store and gallery people would come to visit Tsujimura, asking him if he would like to do an exhibition. It didn’t register that the 73 year old man apprentice covered in clay used to be their Prime Minister. After 18 months Morihiro Hosokawa felt he had discovered the joy of using a pottery wheel and creating works and left to work in his own studio. Morihiro Hosokawa mostly makes tea ceremony ware, using many of the different glazes that characterise each of Japan’s famous pottery districts. Hosokawa also practices the art of calligraphy.

 

 

Morihiro Hosokawa

Morihiro Hosokawa on his pottery wheel

Hosokawa Morihiro garden ceramics

Hosokawa Morihiro garden ceramics

Hosokawa-Morihiro

Morihiro Hosokawa

Hosokawa Raku chawan

Morihiro Hosokawa Raku chawan

Stoneware tea bowl raku black

Stoneware tea bowl raku black – Morihiro Hosokawa

2008 Morihiro Hosokawa

 Black raku stoneware –  Hosokawa  2008

(  Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium )

Morihiro-Hosokawa

Morihiro Hosokawa

tea-bowl

Tea Bowl Morihiro Hosokawa

hosokawa-morihiro

Shigaraki fired vessel

 

475px-303px-hosokawa-san03

Morihiro Hosokawa

Works by  Shiro Tsujimura :

 Shiro’s summation of  his artistic approach:  “A lengthy period of study isn’t necessary to make good pieces,”  “It’s not a matter of killing yourself over technique, but of the result.  It’s not even whether you use a traditional wood-fire kiln or a gas kiln. That is, it’s not a matter of process, but of whether you make pieces in the image you hope for. In the end, it is the artistic goal, the spiritual aspect.”Shino tea bowl

Shino tea bowl

ShiroTshujimura

Shiro Tshujimura tea bowl

Iga-Uzukumaru-jar

Iga Uzukumaru jar

flower-vase

Flower Vase Iga Style

( Ippodo Gallery )

Tsujimura Shiro Tea Bowl

Tsujimura Shiro Tea Bowl

(  Lacoste Gallery )

 

Shino-Sake-Cup

Shino Sake Cup

Sake cup Ido style

Sake cup Ido style

Black oribe style tea bowl

Black oribe style tea bowl

Ido-tea-bowl

Ido tea bowl

Iga-Water-Jar

Iga Water Jar

Shiro Tsujimura

Natural ash glaze large jar

 

Karatsu tea bowl

Karatsu tea bowl

Kohiki jar

Expressive abstract Kohiki jar

Natural-ash-glaze-faceted-vase

Natural ash glaze faceted vase

Japanese-Art_TsujimuraShiro

Tea Bowl – Shiro Tshujimura

( Lesley Kehoe Galleries )

Natural ash glaze spherical vessel

Natural ash glaze spherical vessel

Other Japanese ceramics  that have caught my attention  lately :

Slab Molded Ikebana Vase

Slab Molded Ikebana Vase

John Dix Chawan

John Dix Chawan

( http://flyeschool.com )

Inayoshi-Osamu

Inayoshi Osamu

( http://flyeschool.com )

Modern-Japanese-Chawan-Tea-bowl

Modern Japanese Chawan Tea bowl  – Kawai Toru

Takayuki Sakiyama

Takayuki Sakiyama

Tetsuya-Ishiyama

Tetsuya Ishiyama

(  ippodo gallery New York )

 

Shoji Hamada

Charger – Shoji Hamada

Ichino Masahiko

Ichino Masahiko

( Yufuku Gallery, Tokyo )

Mihara Ken

Mihara Ken

( Yufuku Gallery )

Maeta-Akihiro-porcelain-faceted-vase

Maeta Akihiro porcelain faceted vase

( Yufuku Gallery )

Cited Sources

www.e-yakimono.net/html/hosokawa-morihiro-jt.html

http://jmiyazawa.com/tag/shiro-tsujimura/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Comment

  1. jongsoo Kim
    Posted October 7, 2013 at 6:48 am | Permalink

    Very good looking

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