Jinshu

Combining the elegant functional beauty associated with the Tokoname tradition and his own inimitable sense of form, Jinshu’s teapots are simple, but exude an atmosphere that is truly one of a kind.

Because of their precise construction and controlled quality, Tokoname-style teapots are often the tool of choice for tea specialists. Jinshu, however, set his sights on a construction style that would appeal not only to specialists, but would look and feel at home in any modern kitchen or household. Though Tokoname craftsmen normally spend time practicing their skills in apprenticeships, Jinshu has no such experience, and as such is not bound by a fixed idea of how a teapot “must” be. Perhaps this is what lies behind the unique aura that his works seem to give off.

Jinshu was born in 1949, and is a Tokoname native. His father was a Tokoname potter who got his start while the apprenticeship system was still strong, and who, while he produced vases and hibachi-style grills by hand, also produced them in fairly high volume for the mass market.

While he was a student, Jinshu himself had no intention of building his livelihood in ceramics, and attended a technical college for automobile maintenance. After working in auto repair for two years, however, he had a change of heart and quit, and soon after began working in ceramics at his father’s company.

For twenty years after he entered the ceramics industry, Jinshu assisted his father, making vases and teacups. From the very beginning, however, Jinshu intended to one day work as an independent artisan, instead of simply continuing his father’s business of mass production. “I was making teacups, but teacups only really play the supporting roles that offset the teapot’s star performance. I found myself wanting to make the stars of the show, the teapots,” he explains.

Twenty more years have now passed since Jinshu first started making teapots. When he was getting his start, he went to various teapot artisans in Tokoname, asking advice about the trade. “What I’ve at last come to understand is that teapots have many parts, and that fitting those parts together in a balanced way is difficult. If you understand that, you can make good teapots.”
Recently, Jinshu says, his way of thinking about teapots has shifted. Until now, he has focused primarily on making solid, functional pots, but recently, he has set his sights on “fine-looking pots,” “pots that someone with a passion for teapots will come to love.” “Of course, making pots that are easy to use is as important as ever, but if the people who use my pots think ‘hey, this is a really good one,’ and come to love them, that would make me happier than anything,” he explains.

“I want to continue working as long as I live, and become someone who influences other artists.”