Taki Nakazato

中里太亀

Ceramic Artist • 1965 –

Ceramic artist living in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. At the Ryutagama kiln, founded by his father Takashi and one of the most famous kilns in the area, Taki continues to use the various techniques of Karatsu ware to design and produce table ware that fits in with our daily life and complements today’s cuisine.

BASED IN

Karatsu, Saga Prefecture

WEB SITE

www.ryutagama.com

Instagram

POINT OF VIEW

Taki believes that dishes should be used and enjoyed in daily life, and he considers affinity and comfort with food and sake above all else in his creations. The more you use his dishes, the more they will come to embody the “beauty of use”, and the more you will learn to appreciate and enjoy the rich food culture of Japan.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

1965: Born in Karatsu, Saga, Japan
1988: Begins to study pottery under his father, Takashi Nakazato
1993: Exhibited at Kakiden Gallery with Takashi Nakazato and Sanjuro Oku
1994: Exhibited in a father-and-son exhibition at Manyoudou Miyuki
1995: Held a solo exhibition at Isetan Department Store in Shinjuku, Tokyo
2014: Participated in a joint exhibition at Howard Salon, Taipei, Taiwan with Kato Shuntei, Liao Li-Guang, and Tu Peng-Hsuen
2016: Held a solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo
2019: Held a solo exhibition at ENYAA, Paris, France
2019: Participated in a three-generation exhibition at Manyoudou Miyuki
2020: Held a solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo

RESOURCE

Karatsu Nanban
- Technique
One of the techniques of Karatsu ware, which reflects a style of unglazed pottery fired at a high temperature known as yakishime. Although Karatsu ware did not originally have a yakishime tradition, in recent years the potter Takashi Nakazato began to make it that way using Karatsu clay, based on his experience with Tanegashima ware. The name “Karatsu Nanban” was chosen because of the many pieces of pottery that had been brought to Japan from “Nanban,” or Southeast Asia, that were fired in yakishime style.
E-Karatsu (Painted Karatsu)
- Technique
One of the decorative techniques of Karatsu ware. Patterns including plants, animals, and geometric designs, are drawn with iron-based paint.
First Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu
- Generic term
An expression that refers to three kinds of pottery treasured by Japanese tea ceremony experts. They are Raku ware from Kyoto, Hagi ware from Yamaguchi and Karatsu ware from Kitakyushu.
Karatsu ware
- Generic term
A general term for ceramics fired in western Saga and northern Nagasaki Prefectures. This region prospered as a major pottery production area and is especially renowned for its ceramics made for the tea ceremony, which were first produced in earnest during the Momoyama period (1573 – 1603). Following a period of decline, it recovered during the Showa era (1926 – 1989). Karatsu ware is notable for the variety of decorative techniques such as E-Karatsu (Painted Karatsu), Madara-Karatsu (Mottled Karatsu), Chosen Karatsu (Korean Karatsu), Mishima Karatsu and Kawa-kujira (whale skin), and as such has a wide variety of expressions.

KOGEI STANDARD Japanese Crafts Online Media

KOGEI STANDARD

Taki Nakazato

POINT OF VIEW

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Madara Karatsu Tea Bowl

Suriotoshi Tataki Vase, Kohiki Style