The hand-made works of young potter Kazumi Kawai convey the warmth of her hands, and her unique sensibility shines through. The atelier is located in a remote mountain in Okayama Prefecture. In this 140-year-old traditional thatched house, he uses the firewood he collects every day to light the bath, and uses the ashes to make glaze and use it for decoration. The inspiration and lessons learned from nature are utilized in his works.

Written by Kazumi Kawai

“Experience and learn from Chinese tea”
Sparklingly
The light that returns from the bottom of the tea cup hits your forehead
Scent is the brain
Delivered to every corner
When you bring it to your mouth, it becomes completely transparent.
It feels like it's sinking in and disappearing
as if it were different from that
The taste of happiness washes over me like a wave.”

About five years ago, I was offered an exhibition in Taiwan, which led me to work on Chinese tea utensils. I first met Professor Xiaoman at a group exhibition organized by him at a hotel in Taipei. The person who connected us was washi paper craftsman Wataru Hatano. I knew that the world of Chinese tea pursues delicate aromas and tastes, and that tea masters demand high precision from their tea utensils, but due to my lack of knowledge and skills, my tea utensils have remained unrestrained. However, the teacher accepted my new device with open arms, and even enjoyed it, quickly mastering it.

``The seat of Mr. Koman's tea party was
It's like watching a stage
The container becomes a cast
manipulated with beautiful gestures
While admiring it
poured into a small cup
Thick and sweet tea
Delivered with a smile.”

How delicious that tea is. It was a mesmerizing moment. In February of last year, Kyoto Shochaku opened, and I started attending lessons there. I wanted to learn more about tea and enjoy it as a reference for making tea utensils, but more than anything, I wanted to experience the teacher's world more. All of our teas are made without pesticides or fertilizers. Sometimes even wild trees. Its strength is that it absorbs the energy of the earth by itself and stores it there. The long journey tea has taken, the tea farmers and tea makers involved in making tea, and respect for nature. During the lesson, I strongly felt the teacher's sincere desire to convey the message generously.

Once a month, students receive a theme in Kyoto and take it home. This will not only be linked to tea, but also to life and work. It's been three years since I started living alone in a house in the mountains, where I never met anyone unless I went down to the city. Surprisingly, I never felt alone, and I realized that I was on the same level as them, living surrounded by a lot of life, including plants, animals, and insects. I felt that the powerful sparkle of the wild, which only takes shape and fruit through harmony, is the same as the one that returns from the bottom of a tea cup.

Since I started living here, I've started to want to cover my pottery with soil from the garden and ashes from everyday life, even if only a little. We want to carry and deliver the joy of what we receive and receive from nature every day.

Tea, food, flowers, soil, ash...
It resonates with the lives and events that have come all the way here. I have come to hope that the vessels can be a blessing for this. Mr. Koman, tea, and life in the mountains have given me many themes, and from them I have received many fruits and arrived at what I am today. Even though I am holed up in the mountains, the vessels sometimes cross the seas and the skies, and the seeds sometimes sprout unexpectedly far away, smiling at me, and I am moved by their joy again. I am still making pottery today.

→Next time is Sachiko Kutsuzawa (sculptor).
(Titles omitted)