Yamada Ryutaro's pottery, which has many fans among chefs, designers and people in the art world, is stylish and cool while retaining the powerful appeal of earthenware. He took over the late Aoki Ryo's studio and kiln in Sagamihara, and uses three wood-fired kilns and three kerosene kilns depending on the order and the piece. The pottery he works on is made in a variety of styles, including Kohiki and Hakeme, as well as black glaze and Yakishime. All of his pottery is much lighter and easier to handle than it looks, and it makes food look even more beautiful.
"My love for pottery began when I learned about artists like Kuroda Taizo and Hanaoka Takashi, who have adapted Joseon Dynasty pottery to their own unique style and brought it into the modern era. I would like to explore the appeal of this style myself."
Yamada's motivation for becoming a potter was his battle with illness during his student days.
"The employment ice age was coming to an end, and job openings were starting to increase, but then I got sick and lost all my hair. At the same time, I developed panic attacks and was unable to get on the train, so I would cry on benches at train stations."
At that time, his wife, who was a classmate in the same badminton club, invited him to take a pottery class as a form of art therapy. He then became interested in pottery after seeing a feature on it in a magazine while working part-time at a design firm, and decided he wanted to learn from scratch, so he enrolled in a research institute in the area where it was produced.
"I started my career without knowing what I could do, but luckily I've managed to get by. Now I want to continue making pottery for the rest of my life."
There was a time when he pushed himself to the limit in his efforts to perfect his pottery, but now he is thinking about whether he can create pottery without going overboard and while keeping a distance from it. This is different from passionate pottery making that seems to be carried away by a fever. Yamada calls this "making things with a normal temperature."
"I would say about 36 degrees and 2 minutes. I've come to think that it might be okay to leave it up to the clay and the kiln. I'm not a typical ceramic artist, and I'm not a hereditary ceramic artist. I've never met Aoki Ryo, who actually took over the studio. I don't have any special feelings about it, and I'm not particular about the style or materials I use. I just want to be able to use different shades of expression in my work."
There are two climbing kilns in a row, as well as the anagama kiln used by Ryo Aoki. 
A small potter's wheel workshop located next to the main house.
This freedom may also be due to the changing times. It's not that people want to buy the same things that celebrities have praised, or that they want the "careful living" tableware that was once popular.
"I think that a careful lifestyle has become a kind of curse. We are a generation that is swinging back to living life to the fullest. I hope that we can enjoy tableware more freely."
Because it is at normal temperature, the vessel fits in with the realities of modern life.
