Living and Working Comfortably

Hanada: You always frankly express your current thoughts and feelings through your creations. Could you share with us your recent updates leading up to this year’s solo exhibition?

Takashi Yomiya : Since turning 50, my taste in tableware has evolved. I used to prefer a matte finish, but now I like glossy, beautiful pieces. In other words, I’ve started appreciating “charming” things.

Hanada: What does “charming” mean to you?

Takashi Yomiya : I don’t mean anything overly sweet or girlish, but rather something you just want to cherish. The kind of piece that makes you smile just looking at it when you wake up in the morning. For instance, Gabbeh and Kilim rugs are incredibly charming, and I also love old folk art. I prefer objects where you can discover the “beauty of utility” yourself, like things made purely for daily life before they were officially classified as “folk art.”

Hanada: Moving to a new place might have also influenced you.

Takashi Yomiya : Living in this traditional old house has definitely had an impact.

Hanada: You used to use this traditional house only as a workshop, but you always mentioned wanting to live here someday.

Takashi Yomiya : I had long decided how I would renovate the house once I moved in. I wanted it to be reasonably comfortable and convenient while preserving the original atmosphere of the old building.

Hanada: It feels very comfortable here.

Takashi Yomiya : Working here is comfortable too. When I need a break from work, I can play with my cat. To borrow a thought from Kanjiro Kawai, “Life is work, and work is life.”

The Freedom to Create

Hanada: You regularly replace even your most popular items with new designs. While some people miss the old styles, many others enjoy your decisiveness and the changes you bring.

Takashi Yomiya : It’s tough for an artist when people pigeonhole your style or the image of your work. If expectations lock you into just one thing when you actually want to explore more, it becomes a source of suffering. To avoid that, I make an effort to create things while staying true to myself.

Hanada: So that is also a way of protecting yourself.

Takashi Yomiya : Exactly. Many artists who enjoy long careers are quite free spirits. From an outsider’s perspective, their style might change so much that people wonder what happened to them. But without that kind of shift, you can’t keep going. You eventually want to try something unusual. Even when you look at the master potters of the past, they always have pieces that make you think, “What on earth is this?”

Hanada: Still, creating with absolute freedom must be difficult.

Takashi Yomiya : It is difficult, and it’s scary. No one wants to create freely only to be completely ignored (laughs). On the other hand, it feels reassuring when a piece comes out of the kiln looking familiar, or resembling something tucked away in the back of your mind. Maybe it’s the security of feeling like you belong with the majority. However, I’ve decided to stop looking for that kind of reassurance, like feeling relieved just because a piece looks like someone else’s work or resembles pottery that is widely accepted as good.

The Customer’s Enjoyment

Takashi Yomiya : Recently, a customer told me something that made me incredibly happy: “These pieces will look wonderful in a hundred years.” In the past, I used to fire pieces so they looked aged right from the start.

Hanada: What do you mean by “looking aged”?

Takashi Yomiya : Making them look like antiques. But over time, I started feeling like I was robbing the customers of their own enjoyment. My pottery is made with strong clay and glazes, and it is fired thoroughly, so it should easily last a century. It’s enough if the pieces look their best by then.

Hanada: They might pass through the hands of multiple owners.

Takashi Yomiya : Even if they are sold on Mercari and circulate among different customers, they will develop a beautiful patina over a hundred years or so (laughs).

Hope

Hanada: Do you have any advice for younger pottery artists?

Takashi Yomiya : I want young people to look at me and find hope, thinking, “If he can do it, maybe I can too.”

Hanada: Once they actually try, they might find it quite difficult…

Takashi Yomiya : That’s true for any profession. Even with restaurants, people often think, “I’d like to try that” or “I could probably do that.” Yet, running a simple, casual diner is actually the hardest thing to pull off. Aside from that, I think it’s good to find passions outside of pottery.

Not Exactly Words of Encouragement (Laughs)

Takashi Yomiya : However, to say something completely blunt after all that… I also believe that pottery talent is mostly something you are born with, which is what I often told my apprentices.

Hanada: That sounds like a strict and rather harsh reality.

Takashi Yomiya : You have seen countless pieces yourself, and you know there is a distinct difference between what can be displayed at Hanada and what cannot. No matter how much you practice and improve your technique, or how much you study to gain deep knowledge, there is an element that goes beyond all that.

Hanada: Telling your apprentices that must have been your way of saying, “You’ll be fine.”

Takashi Yomiya : No, they weren’t words of encouragement (laughs). It’s just that they need to overcome that reality to understand what it truly means to do work that is uniquely theirs. In the beginning, it’s fine to admire someone and think, “I want to fire pieces like that.” But at some point, you have to find the resolve to accept your innate qualities, and then build relationships with the customers and shops that appreciate what you create. Just because someone is my apprentice doesn’t mean they need to force their way into shops that carry Takashi Yomiya pieces. It’s much better for them to place their work in shops that appreciate them for who they are.

Hanada: That is a very meaningful piece of advice. However, it feels like the kind of conclusion an artist only reaches after being swayed by various trends, getting carried away, and thoroughly thinking things through on their own.

Takashi Yomiya : I loved Karatsu ware, so I did my apprenticeship in Karatsu, but there was a time when I suffered because I couldn’t produce genuine Karatsu ware.

Hanada: You mentioned before that Karatsu ware didn’t naturally come from within you.

Takashi Yomiya : Going through that experience is exactly what brought me to where I am today.

The Preachy Potter

Hanada: In Japan, many promising young artists are emerging one after another. Conversely, we’ve also seen some artists retiring recently.

Takashi Yomiya : Retirement, I see. That’s admirable. As for me, I plan to keep going until the day I die (laughs).

Hanada: That is also a valid choice, which is wonderful. Potters have the freedom to decide that for themselves. It’s a rich way to live.

Takashi Yomiya : Personally, I’d like to think of every pottery artist in Japan as my junior. To achieve that, I’ll have to become the oldest active potter.

Hanada: Oh dear. What if you suddenly start acting arrogant? (Laughs)

Takashi Yomiya : Once the senior generation is gone, I might suddenly start preaching to everyone.

Hanada: Like visiting your juniors’ solo exhibitions just to lecture them (laughs)?

Takashi Yomiya : If that happens, you can remove me from the Hanada archives (laughs). I wouldn’t want the sparks from my trouble to fly over to Hanada.

Hanada: If you do, we’ll feature it as a special article titled “Takashi Yomiya’s ‘He Actually Said It’ Series” (laughs).

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