Hello everyone, how are you doing?
I thought we had just started the new year, but we have reached December in the blink of an eye.
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the studio of Yuho Kaneshige,
and I would like to share some of the invaluable things he told me about tea bowls to the best of my memory.
First, about the beauty of the green color of tea.
Every time I have had the opportunity to enjoy tea, I have thought that the green of tea is truly beautiful.
It is such a fresh green that it feels as though it cleanses the soul, leaving one with a very refreshed feeling.
Of course, there is the effect of caffeine and so on, but I am truly healed by the beautiful hue of tea.
I asked Yuho Kaneshige about this green of tea.
"I think that's a sensation rooted in instinct."
"After you finish drinking the tea, the inside of the bowl takes on a unique hue as the tea soaks in."
"For this bowl, the jet-black, inorganic material gains a landscape that looks like moss growing on something organic."
"I think this gives humans an instinctive sense of peace."
Hearing this, I thought it made perfect sense.
When you drink tea from a Bizen or Shigaraki tea bowl, the landscape looks like moss covering a rock surface;
with a black bowl like this one, it is like peering into the cosmos.
I think the calming and healing effects of the green color are even more emphasized.
Next is about the influence of the tea bowl's form on its flavor.
"Tea bowls come in various sizes, but they all have different roles."
"This applies to thin tea (for one person) and thick tea (shared among several), but above all, they change the flavor."
"The longer the stroke from the bottom of the bowl to the mouth, the more delicious the tea tastes."
"In other words, the larger the bowl, the more delicious the tea can be enjoyed."
This was the first time I had heard this, and I was very surprised.
When Yuho Kaneshige creates, not just tea bowls but even sake cups,
he always considers how the pottery changes the flavor of the contents.
He says that for a tea bowl, more than its appearance, it is important to consider how best to deliver the tea to the mouth.
Although I am an amateur lacking knowledge about tea,
whenever I drink tea from one of Yuho Kaneshige’s bowls, it flows into my mouth so pleasantly.
Before I know it, the tea is gone, one sip after another.
However, it seems that larger bowls can be stressful to hold,
so when making larger bowls, he says he is always painstaking about how to make them fit comfortably in the hand.
Finally, about the "Gen-wan" (Black Bowl) I used for the photos this time.
I mentioned that it lacks the flat, heavy look of typical black glazes, appearing instead to have depth as if the color had been worked in thoroughly.
He taught me, "I use various black glazes, applying them with a brush in different places."
As you can see in the photos, it has a rich variety of glaze textures—some parts resemble yuzu skin, others are smooth, and in some places the glaze has slipped, revealing the clay body.
Furthermore, this piece incorporates Raku techniques into a Bizen kiln,
where it was buried in the glowing embers generated during the Bizen firing and then pulled out.
The temperature in the kiln at that time easily exceeded 1,000 degrees,
and Yuho Kaneshige said with a laugh, "It’s hard work, so I think I’ve had enough of black for a while."
Well, how did you like this feature?
Yuho Kaneshige is someone who seems to be thinking about pottery in every moment of his life,
and every time I meet him, there are fresh surprises, which I find to be the most enjoyable part.
I plan to continue following Yuho Kaneshige’s challenges, so please look forward to more.
(Yuho Kaneshige / Gen-wan, signed box in production)
size: Diameter 12.9cm x Diameter 12.5cm x Height 9.5cm price: Sold
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