Encounters with Many Different Worlds…

Hanada: Please tell us how you came to pursue making tableware.

Misao Yajima :I first became involved with clay when I majored in ceramics at university.

Hanada: Why did you choose ceramics as your major?

Misao Yajima :Hmm… I guess it just happened by chance (laughs).　I knew I wanted to study art rather than economics or languages.　But instead of design or painting, I vaguely felt that I wanted to “create my own forms.”　And clay seemed like the most flexible material, so I naturally moved toward ceramics.

Hanada: How was university life?

Misao Yajima :I first entered a junior college, and by chance I met a teacher there who never actually taught ceramics. Instead, he would show us works by artists like (Lucio) Fontana… I was shocked, thinking, “Just slashing a canvas can be art?!” But when I saw the works in person, they were incredibly beautiful and delicate, and at the same time they conveyed a sense of space. Then on another occasion, he showed us something like a Star Wars fortress model. I was constantly excited and inspired, and he opened the door to so many different worlds for me. Every single day was filled with things I had never encountered before… (laughs).

Hanada: It sounds like you spent a very intense period of time there.

Misao Yajima :For those two years, I would go to the library after seeing or hearing something that day, borrow stacks of books, and research it all. Looking back on it now, I think I learned that inspiration can be found everywhere, and I also came to understand the possibilities inherent in the texture and materiality of clay.

Hanada: Is there anything from that time that still stays with you?

Misao Yajima :I loved the work of (Alexander) Calder. My favorite was a piece called “Circus,” where scenes were created right in front of your eyes, and I found it fascinating how the people watching and the person creating were enjoying it together in the same way. Back in university, I used to make ceramic objects while thinking, “Someday I want to create something like this too.”

One Chance Leads to Another

Hanada: After graduation, you went on to pursue the world of tableware.

Misao Yajima :By chance, an upperclassman from university invited me to the Gojo Pottery Festival. Since it was such a good opportunity, I thought carefully about what I should make. I asked myself, “What is something only I can do?” Rather than using a single glaze color, I decided to paint.
I loved gosu cobalt blue, so I chose underglaze blue decoration. I thought, “It’s such an interesting world expressed only through shades of blue.” That was the beginning of my painting on tableware. And then, at that pottery festival, someone from a certain shop happened to approach me and say, “Why don’t you work with us?”

Hanada: That was an encouraging start.

Misao Yajima :I was happy, but when they suddenly said things like, “We’d like this many of these, and this many of those,” part of me wondered, “Am I being scammed or something?” Still, if there were people saying they wanted my work, that alone was something to be grateful for.
I didn’t even know how to write an invoice, but I figured I’d just try doing what they asked. Well, if you think about it, even if I had been scammed, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world anyway (laughs). Then after I delivered the pieces, they placed another order. And because that kept happening over and over, I gradually found myself more and more immersed in the work of making tableware.

Things Encountered in Everyday Life

Hanada: Did you mainly focus on underglaze blue work at first?

Misao Yajima :For a while, it was only underglaze blue. I even made fifty small plates, each with a completely different design…

Hanada: So that kind of work doesn’t bother you at all. Eventually you also began creating overglaze enamel work.

Misao Yajima :Yes. When I work with underglaze blue, overglaze enamels, sgraffito, and so on, people sometimes say, “You do all kinds of different things.” But honestly, I never feel like I’m doing different things at all. To me, it’s all connected. I simply take what I feel and shape it through myself.
I might go somewhere and think, “This place feels bright,” or “These colors are beautiful,” or “Winter is coming soon, maybe I should make more things like this”… I’m just naturally changing the paper, brushes, and paints according to what I feel, without drawing boundaries between them. And through that process, I hope my own world gradually takes shape.

Hanada: Many different motifs appear in your painted work. How do those motifs emerge?

Misao Yajima :They come from things I encounter in daily life. For example, I now live deep in the mountains, and people sometimes say to me, “You’ve been using a lot of deer motifs lately.” That’s when I realize it myself. I think, “Come to think of it, I really have been seeing a lot of deer in the mountains recently.”

Hanada: So the things you see naturally find their way into your paintings.

Things Encountered in Everyday Life

Hanada: Is there any kind of work you would like to pursue from now on?

Misao Yajima :Traveling is my only hobby, and I think many of the experiences I’ve had during my travels have found their way into my work in one form or another.
Someday, I’d like to hold an exhibition somehow connected with travel.

Hanada: That sounds wonderful. We look forward to your future exhibitions as well.

Misao Yajima :Thank you very much.

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