Creations unique to this land
“I was nervous at first, but it’s given me confidence. I feel like I’ve finally grasped what it means to carry on this historic name and create tea ceramics.”
Shinbe Sakakura speaks calmly as he prepares matcha, his tone resolved. Born into the family of Sakakura Shinbe Kiln (Kilns are held in similar regard to Sumo “stables”) in Fukawa Hagi, a pottery lineage nearly 400 years old, he assumed the name of the sixteenth-generation “Sakakura Shinbe (Family names come first in Japanese)” in 2024. His debut exhibition had just finished up in Kyoto only days before our meeting.
“My father, the previous Shinbe, wanted to pass the name on while he was still in good health,” explains the new Shinbe. “And for me, it happened to coincide with a moment where I was finally feeling more confident in my work. When you think of our family kiln or Hagi ware in general, tea ceramics are at the heart of it. So I decided to focus on that and began incorporating mountain soil rich in clay from the hillside behind our workshop. Mixing it with our traditional clay and working it into Hagi-style techniques, I found it gave the pieces a kind of aged character, something that echoes older Hagi ware. I feel like the spirit of Fukagawa’s landscape is starting to show in the clay itself.”
“Pottery rooted in the land. That’s what I find most compelling,” says Shinbe as he leads us around the old ascending kiln. Along the way, he stoops to pick up a weathered shard half-buried in the dirt.
“Moving forward, I want to take a step back from technique and intention. To let the elements, the materials themselves, the unpredictable nature of the firing play a larger role. To entrust more to the natural forces at work.”
Sakakura Shinbe Pottery
Located in the Fukagawa district of Nagatoyumoto, this historic kiln has been a cornerstone of Hagi ware. The fifteenth-generation Shinbe Sakakura was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Property by Yamaguchi Prefecture. The current and sixteenth-generation Shinbe studied sculpture at university and creates not only tableware but also sculptural works. Pieces can be purchased directly at the kiln, but visits must be arranged in advance.
1487 Fukawa Yumoto, Nagato, Yamaguchi
TEL：0837-25-3626
