118th Art Crafts and Objects Division - Winning Works

Tōgyōjihō Award

Sekisaisenmon Kaki (Katsuhiko Kunisada), Kyoto-fu

I produced while imagining a bamboo forest on a summer evening.

The clay uses Shigaraki-based blended soil.

The casting method is making threads and the lines were carved one by one with a self-made plane.

The red color was mixed with mud colors several times and fired at different temperatures.

Yomiuri Shinbun Award

Saishokukeshounamisenkokumon Kaki (Atsuyuki Ueda), Yamaguchi Prefecture

I made this, having the green decoration as a ground color opposed to the ripple pattern assembled by drawing of red lines.

April 7^th, 2022

Daisuke Tokudome (Chief Examiner)

 In 2022, there have been many heartbreaking incidents shaking up our daily lives such as war, earthquakes and Corona. There is a feeling of hopelessness in the air these days. I want to express gratitude and joy that the 118^th Arita International Ceramics Competition is held, taking a share in being one of the artistic activities making the heart and life more relaxed and bringing back the normal life.

 Even though the number of entries has decreased by 20 pieces compared to last time, 80 pieces of different creation and points of view have entered the competition. The three examiners are Mr. Yuushi Ishibashi, Mrs. Noriko Kuwahara and (Daisuke) Tokudome. 67 pieces were selected in the first round, 17 in the second, and upon mutual agreement, 14 pieces were chosen as prize-winning pieces.

 The first prize is the winner of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, “Hakuyuuryousen Asabachi” by Mr. Masaru Okada. It is a, with its caliber exceeding 50 cm rather large basin and the cream-colored overglaze of devitrification gives it a soft expression as a whole. Contrary to that are the ridges that stretch from the outside of the vessel to the inside as well as the opening edge that connects those in between add a moderate feeling of excitement to the whole. Another charming point about this piece is that one can enjoy the change of the appearance when looking at it from different angles such as from the side, from above and from diagonal.

The second prize is the winner of the Governor of Saga Prefecture Award, “Tanka Senzougan Shinogi Touhako「Sazanami」” by Kouichi Fukuyoshi. This piece is also very large with a length of close to 50 cm. While gradually changing the color from white to blue by inlay on a black background and also with the striped pattern that is expressed slightly changing the thickness of the stripes, this creates an effect that goes in great harmony with the complex shape that is created by sharpening. This piece made all the judges simultaneously raise their voices, unconsciously saying “Waah” when we opened the lid because of the beauty of the rhythmically placed inlay of stripes on the inside.

 The winner of the Mayor of Arita Town Award “Yuuzougan Hachi” by Jun Nakao is a handsome and elegant piece for which the shape of the bowl itself works together with the form that is finished off like gently rolling waves and pattern created by inlayed glaze also in combination with the beauty of white porcelain. The Saga Ceramic Art Association Award winner “Cha ni omou” by Masashi Miyajima is a piece that creates an atmosphere that lets you enjoy a modern and relaxed tea ceremony with its form born out of certain technical skill together with cute colors and design.

The pieces that closely missed being selected as winning pieces included, the expressions in shape of their thoughts by the producers had no limits regarding the trends and were extremely divers. This will emotionally touch everyone who looks at and uses these pieces. Also, this was an opportunity to reconfirm the charm of ceramics as a craft. I would be very pleased if as many people as possible would visit the exhibition and enjoy looking at the pieces.