Japan: Day 9

Bizen:  Main street is pottery shops. Pottery is unglazed. Natural earth colour. All jugs are different in the same way.

 

Guide: Shinto says there is a God in everything. A God in the kiln. Worship the kiln. Make the God in the kiln happy by firing the kiln. Heat makes the God happy.

Listen to the clay. It will tell you what it wants to be.

Shinto god in everything. Nature is full of typhoons, earthquakes must respect nature get close to it. Worship it.

Me: How do you worship the Gods?

Guide: If a tree is sacred you put a rope around it. Tell people it is sacred.

 

Potter: We had no firing for a year due covid. 

Me: Were the Gods unhappy?

Potter: The Gods were not unhappy.  We had a really good firing after.

We fire for 13 days straight. Keep adding wood. Pots remain in kiln. Natural colour. Colour varies depending position and clay. 

Potter: For 1000 years pottery made in this town. China was making pottery before this.