Motozo

Known for the teapots that he skillfully crafts in the forms of animals or plants, Motozo makes every part of his works entirely by hand, without using molds or other tools, which each piece a slightly different look and feel. Even in the famed pottery town of Tokoname, Motozo’s work is unique, and encompasses not only teapots but also a wide variety of useful ceramics, from incense burners to teacups and vessels for drinking sake.

Motozo is the fourth-generation head of a famed Tokoname pottery family with a long connection to teapots. Though the overall air of the family’s works has remained more or less constant over four generations, each head has established his own unique style.

During its first generation, the family made special-order pottery for both the imperial court and for important and culturally notable shrines. The second-generation head of the family focused mainly on producing high-quality tea bowls for matcha, a type of top-grade powdered green tea. It was during this time that the family received wide acclaim: it came to be said that “if it’s a Motozo piece, you can’t go wrong with it,” and the family frequently rented out spaces in top-class department stores and traditional Japanese inns in which to exhibit their works.

It was the third-generation head of the family, the current Motozo’s father, who began producing clever, artistic works in earnest. Creating “normal” works was something he couldn’t stand, and he began create pieces with more individual flare, such as sake cups with human figures crafted inside. Despite claims from wholesale shops that the works wouldn’t sell, their popularity grew steadily, and the family began to produce offbeat, unique teapots as well.

When he was a child, the fourth-generation Motozo felt that the clay used in pottery was “dirty,” and held little interest in the family trade. Since he had no intention of becoming a ceramics artist, he enrolled in a technical high school with the aim of becoming a normal office worker. As a matter of course, children of ceramics families are made to take over their family’s trade, but Motozo’s father, recalling his own displeasure at being forced into an apprenticeship in his youth, resolved to let his son pursue whatever path he wished.

As he watched his father at work, however, Motozo was naturally drawn in by ceramics, and entered the profession when he was 25. Because he had not received any particular technical instruction from his father, he learned the basics of pottery by observation and imitation.

The fourth-generation Motozo is the first in his family to extend his clever designs to the spouts of his teapots, making the pieces all the more distinctive. “If I come up with something that I think is interesting, I don’t even bother with what other people think – I just end up making it!” he laughs.

Motozo’s attention to detail extends to the bodies of the pots as well. Even though tea strainers for teapots are now made mostly by machine, Motozo makes them by hand, opening numerous fine holes in a half-sphere of clay. Though making them is slow and taxing work, Motozo’s large strainers are very difficult to clog, and allow the tea inside the pot to be poured smoothly. Even though the strainers – attached at the base of the pots’ spouts – are larger than usual, however, the spouts themselves are comparatively slim , making for an attractive exterior and fine, controlled pouring.

Though Motozo’s pieces tend to dazzle customers with their unique designs, they are as functional as they are beautiful, and the attention Motozo pays to every part of his work deserves to be recognized. “Approach one’s daily work with diligence and devotion” is the creed he lives by.