[Shigaraki ware]
One style of Japanese pottery made around Shigaraki area in Shiga prefecture. It is one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns.
By around the end of the medieval period, potters in Shigaraki were making daily utensils such as jars, vats, and mortars using anagram kilns.
Because the beauty of its worm reddish hiiro(scarlet) flashing, deep green natural ash biidoro glaze and black scorching attracted Sen No Rikyu and other tea masters, Shigaraki got to be known as Tea pottery.
Shigaraki ware was designated by Japanese government as a traditional craft in 1976 and there are over 300 kilns today.
Shigaraki ware is famous for statures of tanuki (a small raccoon dog) that are often settled in front of shops and restaurants as a lucky charm (the word “tanuki” can mean “excel past the competition” in Japanese). The history of Tanuki statures began in Meiji period when the potter Tetsuzo Fujiwara in Shiga made tanuki for the first time.
[Sadamitsu SUGIMOTO] (1935 ~ present) Potter
As he was impressed by Shigaraki ware at his age 33, he set foot into the world of pottery. His hope throughout each pottery was t”o express the world of wabi-sabi, enough to be superior to time, and human. His aim toward pottery is not to win the prizes, but to make the best works which are above the national treasures. The reason why he struggled to make the best ever started when he met Tachibana Daiki Ro'shi, a master of Daitokuji-temple in Kyoto.
1935 Born in Tokyo
1968 Established kiln in the Shigaraki area
1974 Met Tachibana Daiki Ro'shi, a master of Daitokuji-temple in Kyoto.
1979 Exhibited his own works in Daitokuji-temple, Urasenke.
1991 Exhibited his works at Rockefeller center, New York.
1992 Displayed his works at Osaka Kitcho, and Yuki museum.
1994 Housed his works at Yale University Art Gallery, USA
2002 Gifted Ido Chawan for Shinzan ceremony(= inaugural ceremony) at Ken'ninji temple in Kyoto. At the same time, Housed his works at Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery for international pottery exhibition among China, Korea, and Japan.
2003 Displayed his works at the Korea Pottery exhibition in Korea Yeongam pottery cultural center. At the same time, exhibited “Contemporary Japanese pottery, accept and transmit” at Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
2005 Housed his works at The Shigaraki ceramic cultural park in Shiga prefecture.
2006 Established its own kiln for Igayaki-ware
2008 Housed at the clark center for Japanese Art & Culture center in USA
2012 Exhibited at Los Angels County Museum of Art, Japanese pavilion. At the same time, they were exhibited in Frank Lloyd Gallery, in USA.
2013 Exhibited his works at Nomura Museum, Kyoto JAPAN.