Shuho

Born in 1937 in Tokoname City, Shuho grew up in the ceramics world - his father was an artisan who made earthen pipes and bottles for shochu, a type of Japanese liquor. Though Shuho worked as his father’s assistant for ten years after graduation, he gradually became uncertain about his future in the enterprise, and set his sights on becoming a teapot maker. He apprenticed himself to Eizo Morioka, a famed teapot artisan who was later designated an Intangible Cultural Property of Tokoname City.

At the beginning of his career, Shuho followed Morioka’s techniques almost exactly, but he soon found that he wanted to establish his own style and, around twenty years ago, began incorporating cloth-texture techniques into his work. The use of these techniques became Shuho’s signature style.

Shuho’s use of cloth textures got its start when, upon laying eyes on an interesting-looking flower vase in a magazine, Shuho thought to apply the vase’s texture to a teapot. Creating Shuho’s cloth-textured pieces, however, takes both time and effort – it is quite a complex process. First, after a pot is shaped on the wheel, it is allowed to dry, and then shaved down to shape it so that the cloth texture can be applied. The entire piece is then wet with a sponge to soften the surface, and textured cloth is applied, creating the teapot’s signature surface pattern.

After the piece has dried, pigment is blown over the pot’s surface, and everywhere but where the cloth has been placed is shaved down to reveal the color of the clay underneath.

Normally, the spouts and handles of teapots are attached at an early stage in the production process – right after the pots are shaped on the wheel – but Shuho attaches them only after the pots have been decorated and patterned. Before the pots are fired for the first time (in a two-step firing process, the first firing takes place before the pots are glazed), they are dried and polished. Then, after firing, colored clay is used to fill the gaps in the cloth texturing, and the piece is fired for the second time.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the process is pulling the cloth evenly over the pot’s surface, so that wrinkles do not form. “In order for the cloth-grain pattern to appear on the piece, you need to use a cloth that is fairly thick, but at the same time, if the cloth is too thick, the design will become too heavy. Getting it just right is the key,” Shuho says.
Shuho’s teapots are true gems, retaining the characteristic delicacy of Tokoname ceramics while exuding a distinctly modern air.