Has your approach to making ceramics changed?

Before the succession, I had held many exhibitions, and I often felt as though I was creating work in a more immediate, almost instinctive way. Rather than carefully developing each piece over time, many of the works captured a cross-section of who I was at that particular moment, including spontaneous ideas as they arose. However, after the succession, as I began preparing for exhibitions over longer periods of six months to a year, I found myself spending much more time confronting my own practice. In doing so, I became acutely aware of how deeply my state of mind and personal reflections influence the work. In some ways, it reminded me of when I had just begun my career as an artist, a time when I struggled and searched while making each piece.

Your approach of drawing out the individuality of the clay lies at the foundation of your practice. How do you see this evolving in the future?

Yes, that will not change. However, tea ceramics are extremely challenging. When viewed as craft, there are many perspectives to consider, such as form, design, and spatial presence. Yet in the context of tea, additional elements enter the picture, elements that are grounded in actual use. The more deeply one engages with this world or tea ceremony, the more significant those elements become. Serious tea practitioners evaluate works only after having practiced tea themselves, viewing them not only as objects of craft but also in relation to their role within the tea ceremony. The level of discernment is truly high. In some cases, even historic masterpieces become one’s rivals. Of course, it is difficult for a work to be used on the same level as those revered pieces. To create something that can stand beside them and still be found compelling is an exceptionally high hurdle. When one inherits the name of a kiln, that world begins to come into view. It is not a matter of becoming conservative. Rather, it feels as though mountains that were previously unseen suddenly enter one’s field of vision all at once. Through the succession, the world before me has undeniably expanded.

Hagi is considered an important production area within the world of ceramics. How do you view the future of Hagi as a whole?

Hagi ware was something that had always been part of my life, something I took for granted. However, the way I see our kiln and Hagi ware today is slightly different from how I saw them when I first began working. When I was younger, I was more aware of what seemed like problems within the ceramics world and within Hagi ware itself. I wondered whether it was enough to continue as things had always been done, and whether it might be possible to create something more compelling. Perhaps that is something many young people feel in any field. Yet as I continued, I began to see that each of those aspects has its own reasons and history. I do not deny the feelings and instincts I had when I was young. At the same time, as one grows older and gains experience, other perspectives begin to emerge. One starts to think that perhaps there is value in things being as they are. I suppose that may be what it means to accumulate experience over time.

With that said, it is not exactly the same as the issues I first sensed, but for example, Hagi has been an extremely successful production area, especially centered on tea ceramics. Still, I do feel that the way Hagi ware has been positioned and supported may, in coming years, no longer resonate in quite the same way in certain respects. In that context, rather than thinking in terms of Hagi ware as a whole, I have been thinking from the very beginning about how I myself should move forward and what I can do. There are areas where I can already feel a response and a sense of progress, but it is probably still not enough. I continue to think, more deeply and carefully, about what kind of approach to making work and what kind of way of presenting it will lead into the future.

After inheriting the name, have there been any insights you have gained through your interactions with others, or any reactions to your work that left a strong impression?

As an artisan, I naturally have a certain level of knowledge and understanding when it comes to ceramics, including Hagi ware. However, when it comes to works that are somewhat removed from my own field, for example pieces from entirely different production areas or other crafts such as lacquer, I sometimes find that it becomes surprisingly difficult to judge what is truly good. Through conversations with various people, there have been moments when their ways of seeing and their sensibilities have caught me off guard. Those perspectives can be quite striking and eye-opening.

At the same time, when it comes to the Hagi ware I create, there are moments when I wonder whether it is not being communicated as fully as I had hoped. I believe that letting the work speak for itself is a virtue in Japan. However, I sometimes feel that relying on that alone may not be enough. The way people who love craft perceive a work can be quite different from the way people active in other fields perceive it. When the same object can evoke entirely different responses, I realize that I need to clearly convey the core of my ceramics, the standards by which I evaluate them, and the values that I consider essential.

Our kiln is no exception, but in the world of tea ceramics there is often a shared understanding within each school of tea that a particular kiln or artist creates work in a certain way. In this world, I am grateful that simply by working sincerely, one’s approach and values came to be understood to a certain extent. However, I feel that artists of the next generation, like us, may need to communicate more broadly to the wider public, including with regards to the very form and role of tea itself. It seems increasingly important not only to continue the tradition, but also to articulate and share its meaning beyond the established circle of those who have traditionally been most connected to it.

Is there anything you would like to challenge yourself with in the near future?

Exhibitions overseas. While I am still in my forties, I would like to do as much as I can and take on as many opportunities as possible.

Sakakura Shinbe-gama Kiln
A kiln of Fukawa-Hagi ware based in Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Sakakura Shinbe-gama Kiln is one of the leading Hagi kilns, tracing its lineage to the official kiln of the Hagi domain established in the early Edo period. The kiln has passed down its techniques and traditions through successive generations, following its founding by the first generation head of the kiln was Yi Chak-kwang, a Korean potter invited to Japan by Mori Terumoto. In particular, Shinbe Sakakura XII, regarded as the restorer of the lineage, is known for elevating Hagi ware as tea ceramics to a highly artistic level. In 2024, the 16th generation inherited the name.