Richard mahaffey on sun 31 jan 99
I was in Japan this past August and Septmber. We went to Mashiko. saw lots
of bad pots, some good ones. DO go to Hamada's house and kiln as well as
the Museum. Across from the open pottery market with the Giant Takuki
(anatomically correct) that my students could not get over, and up about
100 yards is a small but well stcoked ceramic supply. Our group of 30
made their week.
Nikko is a very important site in Japan do go there and see the temple
complex. Did not see any monkeys.
Robert Yellin, on this list, writes for the Japan Times. I believe his
column is on Saturdays and he tells about clay exhibitions in his column.
If you can get a copy you will able tosee many things.
The Suntory Museum has exhibitions. See what is up there. Also Idemitsu
has a museum. Call of write to teh Japan National Tourist Org in San
Francisco or New York and ask for information on Ceramics for the area you
will visit.
I also recommend a Rail pass whcih you must purcahse before you leave. It
comes in one, two, and three week flavors.
Rick Mahaffey
Art Dept.
Tacoma Community College
Tacoma, WA 98466
See the website about our upcomming Ceramic workshop at :
www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/9188
Louise Jenks on sun 31 jan 99
In early March I will be traveling to Japan. I will be staying near Kyoto with
a side trip down to Okinawa. I have seen Kwan Kinjaro's house/studio but am
interested in other places to visit in and around Kyoto. We will go to
Shigaraki but if someone knows about specific places there that a potter would
be interested in please let me know. We will go to the museum, of course.
Feel free to reply directly. Thank you in advance,
Louise Jenks
Russel Fouts on mon 1 feb 99
Rick,
>> I also recommend a Rail pass whcih you must purcahse before you leave.
It comes in one, two, and three week flavors. <<
The japan rail pass is a very good deal but the thing nobody ever mentions
about this rail pass is that it's a "win, win" situation (yes they do
exist!). Buy it even if you're not sure you'll use it. If you buy it from
JAL you can sell it back to them within a year for the FULL VALUE! If you
buy it from a travel agent you only lose 10% on the resale.
Russel
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
32 2 223 02 75
Http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts
Http://www.japan-net.or.jp/~iwcat
Grant me the Senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones I do
And the eyesight to tell the difference.
Lee Love on tue 2 feb 99
I'd recommend a railpass too. We traveled all over Japan in the 3 weeks
of our pass: Nikko, Odate, Kanazawa, Shikoku, Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagoya,
Sendai and Ise. We based out of Osaka, where my mother's family lives.
Also, we stayed with several families through the SERVAS
organization. It is an international Peace and Friendship, homestay
organization. You can find its webpage here:
http://servas.org/
Someone mentioned Nikko. We stayed at a youth hostel there this spring
when I went for the Mingeisota held near Imaichi. We enjoyed it. The
place was a little dusty, but they used handmade pottery at breakfast and
dinner and had woodblock prints up on the walls. There were two hostels
in Nikko, this is the one farther away from the train station with a view
of the river.
The temples in Nikko are interesting. They are gold and red,
much brighter than the temples in Kyoto. This is the home of the "Hear
no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil" monkeys.
If you plan to go to Mashiko, please write me privately.
I'll give you my friend Toshi Okuma's phone number. You can tour his
pottery (he has 16 people working with him) and he can put you in contact
with other potteries in Mashiko. I plan on going to work with him in the
next year or two. I met him when we both had studios at the old Northern
Clay Center in St. Paul.
/(o\' Lee In Saint Paul, Minnesota USA 0
\o)/' mailto:Ikiru@Kami.com ICQ# 20586182
' http://millcomm.com/~leelove/mingeisota.htm
Lee Jaffe on tue 2 feb 99
There are actually two museums in Shigaraki. One is in the center of
town, within easy walking distance of the train station. Outside of town,
too far to walk easily, and I don't recommend it, is the Ceramic Cultural
Center, which is a school, and two museum spaces, plus a gift shop. The
lower museum is lower ware, kind of a chamber of commerce exhibit,
but what a range of pottery. The upper museum, a serious hike uphill,
is more of an international museum. When I was there last time, there
was a major retrospective of 20th C. world ceramics. There is also a
bookstore there. It is all well-worth seeing. The school is rigged out
the max, with all the best stuff in the best possible space. The students
range up to major players. When I was there, we met James Makins,
who was working there as a pottery fellow. There are also ceramic
scultures on the grounds, and a noborigama (?) kiln. It's a wonderful
way to spend the day.
In Kyoto, one of my favorite things to do is the "pottery walk", which
is a winding road uphill towards the Kiyomizu Temple. There are a lot
of shops along the way, a couple very memorable for their ritzy-ness.
One in particular has chrome and glass automatic sliding doors and is
is a pottery exhibit space unlike anything you'll encounter in the US.
That's on the flat part, approaching the hill. Another notable shop is
kind of a Chamber of Commerce shop where the prices are very
reasonable, until you go upstairs and see the good stuff. You could
never get this close to this kind of work in a museum. There are also
some wonderful dusty old shops cluttered with works that are well-
worth seeing.
The Temple is worth the walk and the price of admission. On the way
down, there is another windy path that takes you past a whole other
range of shops and sites.
Just outside Kyoto - a 15-20 min. bus trip - is the Kiyomizu Pottery
Village. There are a lot of shops, but the time to go is when they have
their festival and sale.
Another great thing to do in Kyoto is go to one of the Temple flea
markets. The largest in the world is Toji Temple. You won't see
much pottery but it is a great place to buy just about everything else.
There is another at the Kitano Shrine. The Tourist Information
has info about all of the above.
My other two favorite places are Arashyama, in the Western hills.
There are some beautiful walks up there, esp. through bamboo forests.
Also, the Philosopher's walk, which is in every guidebook is very
charming and worthwhile.
My favorite places to eat in Kyoto:
Kotani - okonomiyaki restaurant in Pontocho area. Inexpensive and fun.
Torisei - yakitori restaurant not far away. More money but very
fun. Try the yaki-onigiri.
There is also a down-and-out looking conveyer belt sushi place in the
Teramchi mall. It is cheap and easy and a great place to
get a little snack, tea or a beer, while resting your feet
and deciding what to do next.
Get Gateway to Japan. Best book, hands down.
Jealously,
-- Lee Jaffe
My other favorite thing is
SusanRaku@AOL.COM on fri 26 sep 03
In a message dated 9/26/2003 10:25:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
rjh@BLUE.OCN.NE.JP writes:
> We have our Japan rail pass at the
> >ready,
> >so what are your suggestions for must see and do things in Japan?
> >
>
We were in Japan this summer but unfortunately did not have time to visit
with studio potters. As far as the general sights we loved Nikko, Mt. Koya (the
cemetary is unbelievable), and the small sland just off of Hiroshima that has
the cable car and wild monkeys(can't remember the name). I understand that
there is a town not far from Nikko that has 400 artists. I hope to get back
and explore that area.
Susan
chris cox on fri 26 sep 03
Hi
We're shortly off to Japan for a three week trip. Our first week
will be taken up with an exhibition and demonstrations, then we're off
to Seto and Mashiko to meet up with some Japanese potters we've met
previously in England. We hope to have a couple of days in Tokyo, but
that's as far as the plans go. We have our Japan rail pass at the ready,
so what are your suggestions for must see and do things in Japan?
chris -
in rainy Cumbria where autumn has arrived with a vengeance.
--
chris & geoff cox
http://www.potfest.co.uk
Dave Pike on sat 27 sep 03
I am not sure what your interested in looking at but you are welcome to come
out to my kiln. I am firing between 2 to 4 times in Oct. I have a 2 chamber
noborigama fired with wood. If you are interested let me know. I live about
1 hour from Nara station by bus. Depending on the timing, I will be either
loading or firing.
Sincerely,
Dave
Rick on sat 27 sep 03
Visit the department stores. Many of them have wonderful pots for sale
at reasonable prices if your in a buying mode. Otherwise it's and eye
feast just to see what is daily available and in use in the average
Japanese household.
Enjoy your visit.
Rick
On 2003.Sep.26, at 03:51 PM, chris cox wrote:
> Hi
> We're shortly off to Japan for a three week trip. Our first
> week
> will be taken up with an exhibition and demonstrations, then we're off
> to Seto and Mashiko to meet up with some Japanese potters we've met
> previously in England. We hope to have a couple of days in Tokyo, but
> that's as far as the plans go. We have our Japan rail pass at the
> ready,
> so what are your suggestions for must see and do things in Japan?
>
> chris -
>
> in rainy Cumbria where autumn has arrived with a vengeance.
> --
> chris & geoff cox
> http://www.potfest.co.uk
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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>
Drake Ash on sat 20 jun 09
hi all,
my orchestra is touring japan in the fall, and we will have several free
days in tokyo and one free day in yokohama. can anyone suggest some specifi=
c
pottery studios or museums which i might visit while there? i got to spend
some time in spain a year or so ago, and was able to fit in a visit to simo=
n
leach, including two lessons. i would love to take advantage of something
similar while in japan. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
thanks--drake ash
cincinnati, ohio
Lee Love on sat 20 jun 09
Hi Drake,
There is an english freepaper, Metropolis, in Tokyo that you should
pick up when you arrive. http://metropolis.co.jp/default.asp It
will tell you what is open and what the museums below are showing.
Also check out Robert Yelln's web page: http://www.e-yakimono.net/
Very informative. You can find museums there that are too numerous to
mention.
Also, only if you like folk pottery, Mashiko is about a
2.5 hour trip from Tokyo: Shinkansen to Utsunomiya and then a bus
directly to Mashiko. I would recommend 2 days, but it can be done in
one.
My top 4 recommendations in Tokyo:
http://www.mingeikan.or.jp/english/
Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), the first director and founder of the
Museum, coined the term Mingei (folk art) in 1926 to refer to common
crafts that had been brushed aside by the industrial revolution.
Yanagi and his lifelong companions, the potters Bernard Leach, Hamada
Shoji, and Kawai Kanjiro, sought to counteract the desire for cheap
mass-produced products by pointing to the works of ordinary crafts
people that spoke to the spiritual and practical needs of life. The
Mingei Movement is responsible for keeping alive many traditions.
http://www.idemitsu.co.jp/museum/english/honkan/index.html
Depending on the special exhibition, this museum can be very good.
The shard room is always open (behind the tea lounge) and is
especially exquisite for potters.
Special exhibitions are held about six to seven times a year, with
themed exhibitions of selected works from the Idemitsu Collection of
Japanese painting and calligraphy, and East Asian ceramics. Other
attractions include a year-round exhibition of major works by Georges
Rouault (1871-1958), the French master of religious paintings who is
famous for the series called =3DA1=3DB0Passion=3DA1=3DB1 depicting the last=
days of=3D
life
of Jesus Christ. The works by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch
(1862-1945) are on long-term loan from the Munch Museum in Oslo,
Norway. The unique feature of the Museum is the Sherd Room where
fragments of pottery collected from kilns around Asia and Egypt
(Fustat site, Cairo) are displayed.
http://www.tnm.go.jp/en/guide/general/index.html
Tokyo National Museum at Ueno Park.
Established 1872, the Tokyo National Museum (=3D96|=3DBE=3DA9=3DB9=3DFA=3DC=
1=3DA2=3DB2=3DA9=3D
=3DCE=3DEF=3DF0^, T=3DA8=3DADky=3DA8=3DAD Kokuritsu
Hakubutsukan?), or TNM, is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The
museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of
art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The
museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National
Treasure holdings and 610 Important Cultural Property holdings (as of
July, 2005). The museum also conducts research and organizes
educational events related to its collection.
http://www.nezu-muse.or.jp/en/index.html
Nezu Museum Not opened until Oct 7th =3D09
=3D09
On display at Nezu Museum is a collection of oriental art objects
gathered over many years by Nezu Kaichiro (1860-1940), the president
of the Tobu Tetsudo (Tobu Railways). Altogether, about 7000 objects of
Oriental art, including 7 national treasures and 87 important cultural
properties can be found within, with frequent rotations of the
exhibits necessary to show all the institute possesses. The most
commonly viewed items in this collection are the traditional materials
used in the tea ceremony and also the religious Buddhist relics.
Visitors can also enjoy a vast Japanese garden and a museum shop on
the grounds.
Nezu Museum will reopen on Oct.7, 2009.
--=3D20
--
Lee Love, Minneapolis
"The tea ceremony bowl is the ceramic equivalent of a sonnet: a
small-scale, seemingly constricted form that challenges the artist to
go beyond mere technical virtuosity and find an approach that both
satisfies and transcends the conventions." -- Rob Sliberman
full essay: http://togeika.multiply.com/journal/item/273/
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