Suzu Ware
"Suzu ware was made by the people of Suzu and other adjacent townspeople in the Noto area during the late Heian to late Muromachi period. Today, it is known as one of the many treasured cultural heritages of Medieval Japan that was found along the coast of the Japan Sea." (excerpt from Suzu Ware Museum pamphlet)Suzu Ware production was discontinued at the end of the 15th century for reasons which are unclear. It was revived nearly 400 years later in the late 1970s by the city of Suzu. My mentor, Tatsuma Nakayama, was an active member of that revival process.
It is thanks to Suzu Ware that I came to reside in this beautiful part of Japan on the Noto Peninsula. My late husband, whom I met in New York City when I was studying Japanese Literature at Columbia University, had decided to move back to Japan after having started his pottery career at Clay Studios in Chelsea. Upon his return to Japan, he chanced upon Nakayama san's Suzuyaki exibition in Osaka and fell in love with it immediately. He promptly moved to Suzu and I was then enticed to join him through his letters describing the pristine nature of the mountains and Japan Sea that surrounded the area. As he put it, "(he) didn't think there were still places like this left in Japan." That was 30 years ago. In order to avoid a saga, I will simply say that together we built an anagama on a nice piece of land that we found in the mountains of Suzu in order for him to pursue his dream of making woodfired pottery. He unfortunately took ill and passed away before he had a chance to make the most of the kiln he had put his heart into building. Since his death I began making Suzuyaki myself. The size of the kiln and the work involved with preparing the wood and clay for a single firing have kept me at a snail's pace. Raising a child and the responsibilities that go along with it have obviously taken precedence, but now that my son is out of college and making a living for himself, I look forward to having more time to devote to my craft.
