In 2010, my husband, Frank and I were so lucky to be able to spend 2 weeks in Japan with Roy Nagatoshi! It was truly a “Trip of a Lifetime”! Although it was essentially a Bonsai tour, we also took in castles, national parks, shrines, Roy’s ancestral home and got to stay in a traditional Japanese hotel, a roi-en! During the trip, we visited Tokonoma, the traditional center of Japanese ceramics and bonsai containers.
I had been teaching ceramics in my art classes for 30 years, where my students worked with many different aspects of ceramics (low fired, stoneware, porcelain, raku, glazes, glaze additives, mold creation and hand building), in the process of teaching, I learned to really appreciate the many, many ways that ceramics can be created. While in Japan I was especially impressed with the skill, the knowledge, and the craftsmanship at the Yamaaki Pottery, one of the few remaining bonsai kilns in Tokonoma . We were very privileged to have a step-by-step demonstration of how Japanese pots are created. I took lots of pictures!
The realization of how much work goes into one of these bonsai containers is what this presentation is about.
