BURNT BY FLAMES: EISUKE MORIMOTO

The first of a three-part series on Bizenyaki, Okayama Ceramics

12,000 years ago the world’s first forms of pottery were made in Japan. Archaeologists have retrieved fragments of this Jomon ware (cups, bowls and other items) from all over Japan. Today, in the Imbe area of Okayama in Western Japan a form of pottery still exists which gives life to those dead fragments of clay. Known as Bizen-yaki (town of Imbe is in an area formerly known as Bizen Province), it is the oldest living form of pottery in Japan; one of the six forms of pottery which were adapted from Korea’s stoneware tradition during the Heian period around 1200 years ago.

Eisuke Morimoto, a 52 year old master Bizen-yaki craftsman is sitting opposite us at his home in Imbe. He has white hair on either side of his head, dresses in sandals and a tunic and is extremely relaxed. His skittish dog, Take, who also has white hair, balances out the calm by barking hysterically as we talk.
“Modern art is fashionable now, and that makes me want to return to more traditional forms,” he says. Morimoto’s teacher, Toyozo Arakawa, instilled a desire for traditionalism but stressed the importance of “making the old forms fit yourself and your style.” Morimoto holds up a bowl. Deep red circles eclipse dark brown moons; a shining blue mark crosses over these shapes and travels up onto a silver lip and down into the dark charcoal interior. “My skill is the way I bring out the red color. It’s easy to get an uncooked red, but a cooked red is very hard to achieve.”

We are taken along a small path, past the barking dog and over a footbridge to a small building. Inside is Morimoto’s four chamber Nobori-kama (Nobori style kiln). It looks like a sprawling African mud hut. “The kiln determines what kind of pottery can be made. At first it was very hard to control, but after a few years controlling the kiln became much easier.” The 35 year-old kiln is fired only once every year. Inside, uncooked pots, cups and bowls are stacked on top of one another, and separated with rice straw to ensure they don’t fuse together. It is the idiosyncrasies of the stacking which will determine the eventual markings and coloring which will cover the cooked clay surface. “The fire must be kept extremely hot. We will feed wood into the kiln 24 hours a day for 10 days, feeding the kiln in six hour shifts.” To get the characterisitic Bizen-yaki effect, no glaze or paint of any kind is used. The coloring is created by qualities already in the clay, brought out under extreme and enduring heat during firing.

That characteristic coloring, so loud and easily spotted, allowed the Bizen style to become hugely fashionable, but it has also meant that Bizen ware can look dated just as easily. Morimoto continued his comments as we observed the kiln, “the best time was during the bubble, in the eighties, now is not a great time.” These days people are much more careful with their money, but Morimoto is not so concerned though; “I think people who buy Bizen-yaki now value it more.” Morimoto’s desire is to have his work treasured, not as art, but as a part of a persons everyday rituals, “When people use my work for their daily lives- drinking beer, eating pickles or rice- that makes me happiest.”

Eisuke Morimoto’s workshop is located at 943-120 Okayama, Prefecture.
TEL: 0869-67-1968

Original text and photography of this entry appeared in Paper Sky No. 35 (Basque, 2011).