Japanese pots & potters

[Haydenmc]

Oh man, hope you've got a nice tree or a really nice shelf to put that Souin on. Spectacular.

[JaseH]

Pics of my 3 favourites, all tokonames:

..very nice!

Love the look of that Souin.

[wrcmad]

Nabbed this one in Japan recently.
It made me weak at the knees. It also made my wallet bleed. ......
A fairly rare Koyo "feathered" (so the translation goes?) oribe - 38 x 27 x 14cm.
I think it's a keeper.

koyo1a.jpg

koyo2a.jpg

koyo7.jpg

koyo4a.jpg

[bodhidharma]

Now...that is a stunning pot. I will give you my second born for it

[JaseH]

That is nice! Koyo glazes are special, this one is no exception! An unusual shape too.

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[kcpoole]

Very pretty

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[Jarad]

wow! That's an awesome pot!

[wrcmad]

Got my hands on this one recently - Koshousen Yamaaki, 30+ years old.

IMG_4468b.jpg

[JaseH]

That's pretty special, got that feel of a hand built pot, not press moulded. Do you know?

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[wrcmad]

Definitely hand-made (all good Toko's are) - you can see where they have been shaped and worked on - each one slightly unique.
The majority use the slab-building method inside a mould, then hand-finish the detail.
Lindsay Farr covered the Yamaaki factory, where this one was born:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlDjHsASvuE

That's pretty special, got that feel of a hand built pot, not press moulded. Do you know?

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[Elmar]

Nice score.
I'm still working on the "growing" phase of my learning but can see a definite interest growing within me about pots!
But, I gots to move carefully lest my old brainz gets all befuddled...


Cheers
Elmar

[JaseH]

Lindsay Farr covered the Yamaaki factory, where this one was born:

Yep, I've visited the Yamaaki factory pity they are no longer in production

That example looks like it has had more hand finishing than most, if not totally hand built(without using a press mould) - a really nice pot!

[wrcmad]

If you spend enough time looking, every now and then you will stumble across a real bargain.
A couple of months ago, I procured a pot in Japan.
I was browsing a market, and something caught my eye - it was an unloved, dusty, ugly little pot that had been relegated to the far back corner of the table, and that didn't garner even a second glance by passers by.
However, the cut corners and feet on this one looked a little familiar?
I picked it up. Very solid, well-made pot, with an unusual blistered glaze, and obvious age. No chips or scratches either.

tofukuji1.jpg

However, it was very cheap, so it couldn't be.
Ahh, what the heck, I had it in my hand now, so with empty hope, and a bit of anticipation, I flipped it....

tofukuji2.jpg

And it was! .... a first generation Tofukuji!
I always wanted one of these in my collection, and this one was priced cheaper than a slab of beer.
I felt a little guilty buying it so cheaply, so to make it up to the vendor, I bought it's cousin too.

tofukuji3.jpg

[Cutymit]

Hi Jaseh
It is interesting to read your blog about Japanese bonsai pots & your Japan visit. We plan to go to Japan later this year and plan to pick up a few quality pots. Did you buy your Koyo oribe at
Tokoname kiln? We stay in Tokyo , ciuld we make a day trip to Tokoname? Could you give us some advice if we can find good quality pots near Tokyo?
Many Thanks
Cutymit

[JaseH]

Hi Jaseh
It is interesting to read your blog about Japanese bonsai pots & your Japan visit. We plan to go to Japan later this year and plan to pick up a few quality pots. Did you buy your Koyo oribe at
Tokoname kiln? We stay in Tokyo , ciuld we make a day trip to Tokoname? Could you give us some advice if we can find good quality pots near Tokyo?
Many Thanks
Cutymit

Hi Cutymit - very sorry for the late reply, I haven't much time to get on the forum lately!

Yes I purchased that Koyo Oribe from the kiln in Tokoname. If you are able to, I would try and visit Tokoname and contact Takeyoshi who may be able to guide you to a few kilns, I can message you his email address if you like.

I'm not that knowledgeable of Tokyo itself, when I was there it was when Kokufu Ten was on, so the Green Club market in Ueno was the place to be for buying pots. Otherwise any of the well known bonsai nurseries generally have collections of pots stacked under the benches. Shunkaen is in Tokyo, Kobayashi has expensive tastes in pots though! Omiya is well worth getting to if you can, you are sure to find some there as well at all the various nurseries.