Peaceful pottery created by reverence for the soil

Kobeigama is a representative kiln of Mino ware. The first generation, Kobei Kato, opened a kiln in Tajimi, Mino Province in 1804. The elegant dyed tableware soon became the purveyor of Edo Castle's Honmaru and Nishinomaru.

Ryotaro Kato was born in 1974 as the son of the seventh generation Kobei Kato. His grandfather, Takuo Kato, the sixth generation, joined forces with Kobei and was recognized as an Important Intangible Cultural Property (Living National Treasure) for his achievements such as restoring the Persian luster painting technique, which had disappeared several centuries ago.

Ryotaro studied under the ceramic artist Yo Akiyama and the calligrapher Kuyo Ishikawa at the Kyoto City University of Arts Graduate School. In 2000, he joined the family business, Kobeigama.

Firewood is poured into the anagama kiln for days on end. On the other side of the furnace wall is a world of ``death'' that is engulfed in flames at 1300 degrees and does not allow the existence of organic matter. This side where I stand is the world of “life”. While standing between life and death, I think of the teacup that is about to emerge from the flames.

A person's life span is 100 years at most. However, if pottery survives, it will last for hundreds of years. That's why I want to pour my love and life into it.

The tea that the host pours his heart into at the tea ceremony connects the host and the guests. The tea bowl is an important presence that exists between these two. A tea bowl is loved by its owner, is a companion, and if it is engraved with an inscription, it mysteriously takes on a personality. "It starts to look like a human," he says.The land of Mino is a sacred place where many outstanding potters flourished in the distant Momoyama period. A lively flow. A fleeting life is wrapped up in something eternal, and wrapped up again. What is taken out of the kiln is Ryotaro Kato's ``alter ego''.

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