Celadon kiln brought back to life after 120 years - Ojiyama-yaki

I have not been so interested in crockery, ceramics, celadon or this kind of things and am not very familiar with them still now.  But when I first saw a picture of dishes of Ojiyama-yaki (王地山焼), their pale green color fascinated me and then made me head to the only place where this celadon is made - Sasayama-shi in Hyogo prefecture.

Sasayama-shi is an intermountain city, where was once a castle town during Edo period (1603-1868), and the part of the streetscape with old atmosphere is still alive.

At the end stage of Edo period, Mr. Tadayasu Aoyama, the then-governor of this area, constructed a kiln and started the history of its original celadon called Ojiyama-yaki.  Because of the protection of the industry by the governor and the local big merchant, the celadon production then became popular among daimyos (大名) there, and it is said that a number of elegant products were created for a while.  

However, the klin ceased to operate in 1869 when the governmental system changed at the beginning of Meiji period.

In 1988, or after 120 years since then, the current Ojiyama-yaki klin was established near the old factory and the production was started over again!  I visited the new klin with gallery yesterday and saw two young craftsmen who engage in production.

As you may see from the work in the above picture, the pattern on the dish has some kind of Chinese taste.  Actually, I saw many other works displayed in their gallery, and I felt some kind of influence of Chinese culture.  Although the above work is pale-blue celadon, there are also Ojiyama-yaki works of blue and white porcelain type and those with rad painting.

It was a strange feeling to see people - they seem to be around the same age as I am, or still younger - are making the craftworks with history that once died out... But as I talked to one of them and at least I understood they are really proud of and love what they are making and the culture of Ojiyama-yaki itself.

And I got a small dish with delicate flower pattern and very pale, lovely blue-green color.  It is now on my desk and makes me think how amazing the cultural staff, which might have disappeared before arriving here, is just in front of me right now:)

Address info:

Ojiyama Toukijo (王地山陶器所）

431 Kawara-machi, Sasayama-shi, Hyogo

Ibushi-gawara production in Awaji Island

While driving Awaji Island all the way, I realized why I felt something different at some moments.  Most of the houses there have light-grayish kawaras (rooftop tiles) called Ibushi-gawara.  In many areas in Japan, kawaras you would see are black like crows, with some exceptions like red kawaras in Okinawa.

(*Supplementary note: After writing this I realized it's not true! I was born and raised in Hokuriku area where most kawaras are deep black, so I have believed that kawaras are black. But I see various colors of kawaras in my current area in Kansai, like red, light gray, deep gray, blue and green... and kawaras in these different colors are mixed in the town.  So now I guess the reason why I felt different at that time is because I didn't see such kawaras in various colors other than light-gray kawaras in Awaji.) 

Tatsumi, an Ibushi-gawara manufacturer in Awaji, allowed us to look around its factory and gallery.  You see the above picture of part of the company building (or rather it looks like a house), with their beautiful Ibushi-gawaras on its top and those piled up on the ground.

Mr Okitsu, the president of Tatsumi, explained for us the company has been making rooftop decorations in the shape of oni,, which is called "oni-gawara".  Oni is an imaginary demon that appears in many old Japanese tales, but is sometimes described as good existence too.  I guess when the oni-gawara is placed on the roof, it is considered to be a talisman.  Here is one of their biggest oni-gawara.  

It is said production of Ibushi-gawara is a traditional industry in Awaji.  It is said kawaras originally came down from China about 1400 years ago, and production was started here in Awaji a little while after that.

According to Mr Okitsu, the craftsmen of oni-gawara, who are called "oni-shi", make such a big oni-gawara using a mold, but usually they do not use a mold to make kawaras but make them with their hand.  They shape cray used as the material of kawaras into such a complicated and delicate decoration.  The shaped material is baked in a large furnace at about 1000 degrees for 24 hours.  The time taken to finish one product depends on the size and other factors.  In the case of a big one as the oni-gawara in the picture, they say it takes three months. 

When we were looking around the factory, a few craftmen were working.  One of them were making not kawaras but coasters using the same material.  In addition to kawaras, they also make small items like those coasters, flower bases, and even metalophones! (Actually the metalophone is not for sale but just a trial piece.)

I asked Mr Okitsu why they are making such products besides kawaras, and he smiled and said "Of course our main job is making kawaras, we can't make money with these tiny goods.  But sometimes people like you visit us, and we thought they would be happy if they can get some souvenirs here!  And we want them to get more interested in kawaras."

There were as much as several hundreds of kawara factories in Awaji, but the number has reduced to several dozen because of decrease in demand for kawara.  Those small goods and prototypes are Tatsumi's trial and effort to leave their traditional culture of Awaji to posterity.

I got a chopstick rest in the shape of miniture scale kawara before leaving the gallery.

Here's the link of Tatsumi's website (Japanese only, but you can see lots of beautiful products of them!): http://www.tatsumi-oni.co.jp/

Awaji Island, the place of old myth

I visited Awaji Island in Hyogo prefecture.  According to Kojiki - the oldest existing story on the Deities (called "kami" in Japanese) of Shinto and the process of creation of this country by them - Awaji is the place that was created at first by the deity couple Izanagi and Izanami.  This is considered as the reason why so many shrines exist in this island (unfortunately I cannot find the exact number).  The above picture is surprisingly huge Torii (gate) of Onokoro-jima Shrine.

Almost in the middle of the Island is located a shrine called Izanagi Jingu, where the spirit of Izanagi is enshrined (I guess the reason of enshrining only the "husband" derives from the context of Kojiki, but won't mention it here). 

In the premise of the shrine, there is a old, 30-meter huge sacred tree, which is 900 years old! It is said this tree originally was two separate camphor trees, but their roots were united became a single tree.

The main purpose of this short trip to Awaji was actually not to visit those shrines, but to learn the traditional industry of this island.  I will talk about it later.