Mel Jacobson on sat 2 aug 97
Mr. Uchida arranged with Mr. Hamada for me to go to Mashiko....I was
trained to know how to meet an old ceramic sensei....and Hamada was
one....even though he spoke perfect english, i did not presume to speak
english...(that was very important.) I was having an opening in tokyo with
mr. uchida, and he arranged for the lovely receptionist of the gallery to
go with me to hamada's as a translater. we called the womans father and
got permission....so, off we went the next day, just kazuko and
i....arrived in mashiko, went to his home...............
saw him sitting on the porch of the wonderful home he lived in. (an old
monestary) i decided to leave my camera and things on the road...go in
empty handed....it was a wise move...no pictures....his wife greeted us, we
gave gifts, went in for tea, he arrived and only spoke japanese...the young
woman translated.....
we did this for about 5 minutes....he winked at me, said in english, "nice
touch leaving the camera on the road, and the lovely girl is a VERY nice
touch. we can speak english now". (mrs hamada gathered up my things and
brought them into the house)
we spoke for about 15 minutes, a large van came in the yard with some
collectors and business men from tokyo, they took pictures, he told them
to leave, really pissed, he said in japanese, " i have important guest here
from america, cannot take time for you picture takers/" and in he came,
took me by the arm and out we went to the studio, met people, he let me
light the small salt kiln, and off we went to the collection house....we
looked at his pottery collection for three hours.....the whole thing.
worth millions, and it had everything, ming, sung, maria, african,
southamerican, historic, his favorites, old leach pots, shigaraki stuff,
korean, okinawa pots....god it went on and on....then we had late lunch,
back to the studio, his wife called and got us tickets on the last train.
left at dusk...back to tokyo.
he was charming, funny, talked and talked, had a good time....but i
followed the rules, did not presume on his time, talent or try to match his
ego....i let him lead, just followed...kept mouth shut, and listened.
respect is everything to japanese...if you give it, you get it. hamada was
not a simple peasant potter, he was international in scope, he was very
wealthy, very powerful, and a wonderful chemist. made great glazes. he
had a studio full of talented, hard working people...many of them. he had
people to do every step, make clay, fire kilns, throw pots, decorate,
clean, keep records....HE did the most important thing of all, he designed
pots, on paper i would bet. he organized, made all the decisions, took
all the risks, worked with his agent, (yes, agent) all pots are sold by
agents....no retail ever. and i bet he researched everything. as mr.
uchida would do...take every clay magazine in the world, read them
all...look at books and magazines for hours each day...we recieved about 5
or 6 a day from all over the world...those old ceramic sensei's were
business men of the first order, they had status, maybe as high as anyone
in the country....remember, potters, artists, poets, swordmakers, and
writers have the highest social cast in japan....not doctors, lawyers
etc....teachers are very highly respected.
and if you think you really understand what is going on in japan.....and
you are sure you know the answer...you are probably wrong.
just a story...it did happen as i have written...unreal day, my head spun
off my neck....he said he would write leach and tell him to see me when we
went to england....you know what? he did, and it worked...got to spend a
day with leach also.....another story for another day...
mel. mn. a lucky guy.
ps....but the best of them all was kanjuro kawai...he was a kyoto potter,
never left. died early. very highly respected in kyoto...hamada was
not.....he was a tokyo potter. and sold his things around the
world....not good.
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Robert Yellin on sun 3 aug 97
Hi Mel-
Thanks for sharing your interesting story- it's
always good to hear first hand accounts of
meeting with legends. That first group of
treasures, Hamada, Kaneshige, Ishiguro,
Kato, Arakawa, Nakazato, etc.. were an
amazing group indeed- they revived so
many lost traditions. I agree that Kanjiro
Kawai was the best of that mingei lot-
he was a multi-talented artist, I don't even
think he was human but more of an elf that
went to work at the strike of midnight.
His pieces have such a gnomish feel.
You met him! Can't wait to hear that
story. Of course, I've visited his house,
which as you probably know was made into
a museum- just the way it was as when he lived
it.
What you said about knowing what goes on here in
Japan and claiming complete understanding could
be broadened to cover any subject, including life
itself. When someone says they know it all- I
immediately have my doubts or simply run away.
I know many a potter these days who do sell directly
without agents- I would say this is the norm for
your average or better potter. Someone like Hamada
most likely had a different angle on it. In Hamada's
time there were not nearly the number of independent
potters as there is today and of course, he was king.
Have you been to Mashiko recently? There are hundreds
of potters there now,
where as I'll bet there were only a dozen or so
successful potters in Hamada's time, among them
Totaro Sakuma, Ichiro Kimura, Gen Murata(my favorite
who I like better than Hamada), among others.
The average Japanese couldn't afford the luxury
of top class potters as more can do today. The
pottery collecting boom began here in the mid-
seventies thanks to a rising class of people with
extra money to spend and the introduction by
Ryoji Kuroda of books published by Kogei Pub.
that introduced hundreds of studio, folk, tea,
and avant-garde potters to the general public.
Anyway, just thought I'd send a simple note
your way and let you know that I enjoyed your
story.
Japan is a complex country yet I feel I have a
semi-finger on the ceramic pulse here.
Would you like me to e-mail you my article
in next Saturday's J.Times about Togaku Mori?
We can swap stories.
From across the Pacific-
Robert Yellin
Karen Gringhuis on fri 8 aug 97
Robert - did you or will you post the Mori story? I've seen his
work in catalogs & he's one of my favorites. A friend of his son(?)
was a student w/ me at Alfred - Tetsuya Yamada. Great fellow, veryknowledgeable & very good. Regards, Karen Gringhuis
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