My new endeavor in Kasama
I just returned from Japan where I spent 7 weeks in Kasama city, Ibaraki Prefecture. Kasama is a well-known pottery town although few people outside Japan know about the town. Kasama is about 2 hrs north of Tokyo by train and is rather a small town with mostly agriculture and pottery studios. The town is surrounded by mountains and many rice fields and vegetable plots. Kasama has a very famous Inari (fox) Shinto Shrine and in October and November there is a chrysanthemum festival with incredibly beautiful flower arrangements. This was the third time I went to Kasama and importantly, this time I spent time in my own house located in Kitayoshihara, just a couple of miles north of the downtown area. The house is located in a small hamlet that has beautiful traditional farmhouses and my place is on a small hill that overlooks the surrounding mountains and farm fields. To the east, one can see the sun rise and in the west one can follow the sunset. This is an incredible location for a pottery studio; peaceful and inspirational. Interestingly, when I was walking through the fields next to my property, I found pottery shards from the ancient Jomon time, dating between 10,000 to about 2,000 BC. Jomon pottery has characteristic impressions of ropes that were used to decorate the outside of pots. This area is a known Jomon period settlement and I was told that farmers routinely find Jomon period artifacts including small figurines, spearheads and many pottery shards when tilling their fields. So I was kind of thrilled to know that I have a pottery studio that sits on a prehistoric pottery site. How cool is that!
My friend Okudasan found this property for me. The house is just a one-room house, but importantly, it also has a small ceramic studio, a wood-fired anagama and an oil-fired kiln. The property has a building next to the anagama kiln where I can store unfired pots and any items needed for firing the kilns. Next to my house is a small vegetable field to grow crops. This is farm country.
When I arrived with my rental car at the Okuda Pottery on Saturday October 5, it was a beautiful sunny and warm, even hot day. Okudasan was working on his gallery project and he seemed a bit uneasy. We had a cup of tea and then drove to my new endeavor. The house/pottery was rather a messy place, messier than I had seen in pictures. I was wondering what I got myself into. The landowner, Mr. Shimizu, 85 years old, also came and I introduced myself in my limited Japanese. Soon after, I found myself cleaning the dusty house floor and I started to put away some of my luggage. I went to the store to get some food and a bottle of sake and I returned to view the incredible sunset. I laid out my futon and cover that I bought from a Japanese company, prepared some ramen dinner and soon turned of the light. Laying there, thinking about my situation. I was not completely sure that my decision to buy this property and try to establish my own pottery was well thought out. I was apprehensive about many issues that I envisioned will be challenging and I wondered why I always seek out difficult tasks. It dawned on me why Okudasan was uneasy when I saw him earlier. He knew about the place, its pros and cons. He understood how much work it will require to make this a more comfortable and functional place. I could see that he was not sure how I would view this house/studio. I am sure he was afraid that I would not like it and that he was responsible that I purchased the place. I could also see that he was not sure whether I could actually handle the situation, living here for 7 weeks, cleaning the place up and turning it into functional house/pottery. I was glad when I fell asleep.
