Interviewee: Ichiro Hirose (Owner of Momoi)
Japan's unique tableware culture, a part of everyday life
With the number of pottery shops showcasing folk crafts from all over Japan on the rise and large-scale exhibitions being held, it seems that folk crafts have become increasingly popular over the past year or two. Mingei is a concept and approach to craftsmanship advocated by the thinker and philosopher Yanagi Muneyoshi in the mid-1920s. In a nutshell, it is the crafts of the common people.
It is a healthy and unpretentious handiwork that prioritizes use in daily life. While ceramic artists such as Kanjiro Kawai, Hamada Shoji, and Bernard Leach are well-known, it was new pottery artists who drew on the Mingei movement that began to attract attention from the 1990s.
As with crafts, one of the triggers was women's magazines and lifestyle magazines. One example is the ceramic artist Noriyuki Yamamoto. Yamamoto studied under Shoya Yoshida and Bernard Leach, who led the Tottori Mingei movement, and creates everyday items inspired by overseas folk crafts and antiques.
He has worked not only on tableware but also on cooking implements such as earthenware pots, capturing the hearts of tableware lovers, especially chefs. It is not uncommon for his works to sell out on the first day of his solo exhibitions, and even now there is always a waiting list of several years for his signature earthenware pots. He is also one of the pioneers of "tableware artists who have long lines of customers."
The hugely popular slipware is also a type of pottery that originated from folk art.
Speaking of Mingei tableware, slipware cannot be forgotten. Its origins lie in the ovenware made in Britain around the 18th and 19th centuries, and it was introduced to Japan through artists such as Bernard Leach. Its most distinctive feature is the free-form patterns created with a liquid-like slip. There are many contemporary artists who specialize in slipware, such as Inoue Takayuki of Kumamoto, Saito Juro of Shizuoka, Yamada Yoji of Shigaraki, Shiga, and Ito Takehiro of Mashiko, Tochigi, but the legend who built the foundation for it is Shibata Masaaki.
Shibata, who worked on traditional pottery in Tanba, Hyogo Prefecture, was inspired by old British slipware and studied its manufacturing methods. Rather than painting on a shaped vessel, he arrived at a method in which patterns are applied to a flat, slab-shaped base and then shaped in a mold. Slipware, with its bold designs that make food look spectacular, has spawned many successors and boasts enduring popularity.
Another catalyst for the widespread popularity of folk crafts was probably their adoption by the fashion brand Beams. Beams's renowned buyers, Keiko Kitamura and Terry Ellis, pioneered the field by visiting Mashiko, Shussai in Shimane Prefecture, and Yomitan Village in Okinawa to meet with makers and purchase directly. Okinawan pottery known as "Yachimun" became particularly popular.
Their sturdy construction and bold designs made them an instant hit, but what's particularly noteworthy is that their aesthetic sense also included a sense of fashion. Ease of use was of course important, but coolness and fun were equally important. In the store, they were displayed alongside modern Scandinavian furniture and casual clothing, and as such, they spread as a fresh and in-depth interest to young people who had previously had no exposure to the world of folk art or tableware.
Tableware for everyday life, which embodies functional beauty known as the beauty of utility, remains an important foundation of Japanese tableware culture, even now, nearly 100 years after the term folk art was coined.
Yamamoto Noriyuki: Born in Tottori Prefecture in 1948. At the age of 16 he met Yoshida Shoya, and at the age of 18 he met Bernard Leach, and decided to become a potter. In 1971 he opened Iwaigama Kiln in Iwami County, Tottori Prefecture. His representative works include earthenware pots with edges inspired by Mexican folk tools, and pottery with peony patterns taken from scrolls from the Joseon Dynasty. 
Masaaki Shibata / Born in Tokyo in 1948. A leading figure in slipware in Japan. Attracted by folk art, he moved to Tamba. In 1975, he became independent and began making Tamba ware and slipware. He was also involved in the large-scale exhibition "The Beauty of British Antique Pottery and Slipware" in 2003. 
Omine Jissei / Born in Okinawa Prefecture in 1933. After becoming interested in the avant-garde art movement "Gutai" and the ceramics group "Sodeisha," he became a ceramic artist. In 1980, he opened a joint climbing kiln with four other ceramic artists in Yachimun Village, Yomitan Village, Okinawa. His eye-catching Persian blue pottery is very popular.
