Chris

Japanese ceramics have always been a special interest of mine, and I wanted to dedicate a solid chunk of time to learning about them in Japan. My initial plan was to daytrip around the country and visit some of the traditional kiln towns like Bizen and Mashiko. The more I thought about it though, I realized that without a good grasp of Japanese or local connections, I wouldn’t actually be able to learn much out of a trip like that. I stumbled on VAWAA while digging around for something that fit the bill, and it sounded perfect. 

I greatly enjoyed my time with Junpei, and learned a lot about different styles of Jomōn pottery decorations. I’m planning a few new projects around incorporating these techniques into my normal work, and am hoping to have some prototypes soon. Pivoting from a wild archipelago-spanning odyssey to a deep dive rooted in Kyoto also proved a good choice, as I felt I got to really get to know the ceramics scene in Kyoto, rather than just scratching the surface of a dozen different places.