Aiming for a “Usable Black”

Hanada: For the upcoming exhibition next month, we’d like to talk with you about your new works. I’m looking forward to a lively exchange, teasing and responding to each other along the way.

Maiko Miyaoka: We’re both playing the fool, aren’t we? (laughs)

Hanada: So neither of you is playing the straight man, then. (laughs). Let’s start with Mr. Shimura’s black.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Recently, I’ve been making this kind of black ware. The patterns are applied by brushing white slip onto the surface. From the late early to early middle Joseon period, decorations like this begin to appear.

Hanada: What prompted you to try this approach?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: When I was working at Mr.Sokichi Nagae’s place, I spent a lot of time looking at tenmoku, so I was drawn to black from the beginning.

Hanada: It’s different from the black that Mr. Nagae’s works with, but that experience helped you discover the appeal of black.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: At the same time, I felt that the rigid, tense feel of Northern Song wares wasn’t right for my own work. Later, when I saw Joseon-period pieces in the Ataka Collection and at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, I thought, “This is really good.”
Originally, many of those works were large—maebyong vases and the like—but I wanted to create tableware that could be used in contemporary life. It took time, but I’ve finally reached a point where this black comes out in a satisfying way.

Hanada: Was achieving this “usable black” difficult?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: I wanted to produce this black using only natural iron. Through a lot of trial and error with different firing combinations, I eventually arrived at this black.

Hanada: You’ve always valued materials highly. What is the significance of aiming for a black achieved solely through natural iron?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Using processed materials makes it easy to do many things, but when I look at the finished piece, something feels off.

Red Flesh and White Flesh

Hanada: Have you tried using them yourself in various ways?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Of course!The red flesh really pops.

Hanada: If you say that, the white flesh would stand out beautifully too.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: I did try making soba cups, but with tea you can’t enjoy the color… It feels like you’re drinking something pitch-black, and I thought, “This doesn’t work.” You can’t really see the soba broth either… It turns into a blind tasting situation (laughs).

Hanada: How do you choose the motifs for the patterns?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: This chrysanthemum comes from around early Imari ware. This one is a typical ruyi-cloud motif from Joseon ware. I choose motifs based on how visually appealing they are and how well they suit the form.

Hanada: MS. Miyaoka, what do you think of Mr.Shimura’s new “black”?

Maiko Miyaoka: Huh?!

Hanada: Sorry for putting you on the spot.

Maiko Miyaoka: I let my guard down. I was just vaguely listening and thinking, “Oh, I see…” (laughs).

Hanada: When you first saw them, what impression did you have? Something like, “Hey, these are good,” perhaps?

Maiko Miyaoka: …Yes. That’s about it—“These are good.”

Mutsuhiko Shimura: She doesn’t really look at them much. Probably not that interested.

Hanada: (laughs)

Maiko Miyaoka: That’s not true—I do look at them!

Mutsuhiko Shimura: At the exhibition, she’ll say, “Oh, so you’re making things like this now.”

Maiko Miyaoka: Right, sometimes you discover things at the exhibition.

Hanada: You’re completely viewing it from a customer’s perspective (laughs).

Maiko Miyaoka: I’m usually too busy focusing intensely on my own work. I think Shimura is the same.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: That might be true.

Maiko Miyaoka: And asking, “What are you working on?” every time, you know… (laughs).

Hanada: That’s just your style as a pair.

The Rhythm Within a Tableware

Hanada: This square plate is wonderful too.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: For dried sardines, for example.

Hanada: The slightly shifted hakeme division really catches the eye. It has a great balance.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Some Mishima sections are neatly aligned, while others leap around more freely. What I pay attention to is that each part stands on its own. Put another way, you could call it a sense of “rhythm.”

Hanada: Rhythm.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Yes. Whether they’re orderly or irregular, I hope each piece conveys its own rhythm.

That Delicious Hitsumabushi

Hanada: Now, let’s move on to this piece.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: This is inlay work. I scratch the surface and fill it with black clay. It’s based on pieces that appeared around the mid-early Joseon period. Up until now, I’ve mainly done white inlay, but I’d like to increase black inlay as well.

Hanada: What is the motif of this pattern?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: It’s probably a simplified peony.

Hanada: Ms. Miyaoka, is this the first time you’re seeing this piece?

Maiko Miyaoka: I’ve seen this one before (laughs).

Hanada: Is this a bowl? It could almost be mistaken for a rather large rice bowl.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: For people who like to eat a big serving (laughs).

Maiko Miyaoka: Maybe a small donburi.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: It works for simmered dishes, or bibimbap.

Maiko Miyaoka: Mini bibimbap.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Noodles in broth, braised pork belly… it might even work for dessert.

Hanada: Ah, braised pork belly sounds great. The blocky shape would suit it well. Speaking of blocks, cubed tuna topped with grated yam would look beautiful too.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Ochazuke would be good as well.

Maiko Miyaoka: And Hitsumabushi.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: I don’t usually make hitsumabushi at home, though.

Maiko Miyaoka: But when you bought eel at Tsukiji market and made it once, it was really delicious.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Oh yes, that did happen.

Hanada: From filleting onward?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Yes.

Hanada: Impressive.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: My family ran a tempura restaurant, and when I lived at home I filleted about a hundred conger eels a day, so you kind of pick it up naturally.

Hanada: Is the body structure similar between eel and conger eel?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: The cross-section of the bones is slightly different, but the basic structure is pretty much the same, I think. Oh, and lately I’ve also been working on white porcelain.

Hanada: Joseon white porcelain would be different from Ms. Miyaoka’s white porcelain, so that adds more variation.

Going to the Trouble of Making It a Gourd…

Hanada: Next, let’s move on to Ms.Miyaoka’s new works.

Maiko Miyaoka: Oh no, it’s my turn…

Hanada: (laughs) This gourd-shaped piece looks like it’s going to be very popular.

Maiko Miyaoka: It’s a take on Ko-Imari. On top of the gourd, there’s probably a gourd leaf layered over it.

Hanada: Layering motifs like this is something you often see. What do you find interesting about it?

Maiko Miyaoka: Don’t you find it interesting that after going to the trouble of making it a gourd shape, you then hide it with a leaf? You create a distorted form, and then boldly place a big leaf right in the center… And on top of that, filling the remaining space with shippo patterns is quite something. The composition is really fascinating.

Hanada: There’s also charming decoration on the back… so many highlights.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Restaurants would probably like this too.

Maiko Miyaoka: Would shirako work?

Hanada: Grilled shirako after marinating might be nice.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Ah, cod milt.

Maiko Miyaoka: Were you imagining fugu shirako just now? (laughs)

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Yeah, a little. But cod would be good too.

Hanada: Well, either works. I was thinking of cod.

Maiko Miyaoka: (laughs)

Hanada: Ms.Miyaoka, you’ve made several other irregular shapeed plates as well.

Maiko Miyaoka: Fish-shaped ones, ones with two overlapping windmill palms…

Hanada: Those palm motifs were wonderful. There were chrysanthemum versions too. What do you find appealing about these irregular shapes?

Maiko Miyaoka: What I like are pieces that feel modern.

Hanada: Modernity. Is it something like playfulness?

Maiko Miyaoka: Partial underglaze blue decoration, for example… pieces where you can really feel the “design.”

Hanada: Mr. Shimura, any comments?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Huh… this one?

Hanada: Let your guard down again? (laughs) When it’s the other person’s work, you both listen in a very relaxed way.

“Don’t Take It”

Hanada: Do you influence or inspire each other through your work?

Maiko Miyaoka: I do.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Me too.

Maiko Miyaoka: Sometimes it feels like my molds are about to be taken (laughs).

Hanada: (laughs)

Mutsuhiko Shimura: She tells me, “Don’t take it.”

Maiko Miyaoka: And he says, “You’re not using that one, so it’s fine, right?” (laughs). Well, it’s not like it’s going anywhere, so I don’t really mind.

Hanada: There are quite a few molds that could work for either of you.

Maiko Miyaoka: I think it’s interesting.

Hanada: This gourd shape could work too.

Maiko Miyaoka: Celadon would look good on it. Maybe next time we should swap molds.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: The ones you’re not using, though (laughs).

Enjoying Imbalance

Hanada: Next, is this plate also a reinterpretation?

Maiko Miyaoka: Yes. The original is a bit larger. It’s “a Dutch copy of a copy,” really (laughs). Imari copied Delft, and then I copied that. I think the rim pattern is Dutch. The central motif is probably iris, and it feels very Japanese, which makes the combination with the lively Western pattern around it really interesting.

Hanada: It sounds unbalanced, but when you see the finished piece, it feels just right.

Maiko Miyaoka: When I saw it in photographs, I found that imbalance really intriguing.

White Porcelain with Lobed Rim

Hanada: And then there’s this lobed cup. This is Ko-Imari that I brought with me. Thank you very much.

Maiko Miyaoka: I tried it, but when I looked at it later, the shape was slightly different.

Hanada: The original has a slightly softer, puffed-out rim. But it doesn’t bother me at all.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: The original is made extremely thin, isn’t it?

Maiko Miyaoka: Reproducing that with the clay and glaze I use would be impossible.

Hanada: I don’t think it’s necessary to go that far. I wasn’t expecting you to replicate that thinness. The iron tone at the rim came out just right.

Maiko Miyaoka: I think that was just a coincidence…

Hanada: (laughs) I had seen the iron-rimmed white porcelain lobed deep dish you originally made, so I hoped for something like that—and it turned out exactly so. What would you use this for?

Maiko Miyaoka: You can use it for almost anything.

Hanada: How about oysters with vinegar?

Maiko Miyaoka: I’d love that. Desserts would work too.
Mamekan, ice cream…

Hanada: That sounds refreshingly perfect.

Toward the Exhibition

Hanada: Finally, could each of you share a few words as we look ahead to February?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Please go first.

Maiko Miyaoka: Huh?

Hanada: Pretending to yield while buying time (laughs).

Maiko Miyaoka: Having held several exhibitions at Hanada, I’ve come to recognize more familiar faces among the visitors, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them again. When you do something in the same place multiple times, it gradually becomes more comfortable—and more fun.

Hanada: There will be both new pieces and familiar staples, after all.

Maiko Miyaoka: There are also a few pieces with a charming feel, so I hope people will enjoy seeing them.

Hanada: All right, Mr. Shimura, have you had enough time to think? (laughs)

Mutsuhiko Shimura: This time, I’ve gone for a more subdued direction… though I suppose my work is always subdued (laughs).

Hanada: Even more subdued, then.

Mutsuhiko Shimura: I’ve incorporated original motifs into classical forms, and also made various versions of my standard pieces, so I hope you’ll come and see them.

Hanada: Will there be white porcelain as well?

Mutsuhiko Shimura: Just a little, but I think it will be ready in time.

Hanada: Thank you very much.

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