Nature Unbound
Fukushima Kazuhiro
Born as the eighth-generation successor of the Mukai Kiln, which has thrived in Iga for over three centuries, Fukushima Kazuhiro creates ceramic works that combine the profound presence of earth with the translucent beauty of vidro glaze and the distinctive, crackled kairagi texture. While deeply rooted in tradition, his work embraces a contemporary sensibility, transforming the seemingly accidental patterns formed by fire, clay, and ash into deliberate expressions of artistry. Through this process, Fukushima opens new horizons for Iga ware, infusing each piece with striking individuality and life.
Carrying on the Spirit of Ko-Iga
Iga ware originated between the late 7th and early 8th centuries, using highly fire-resistant clay from the ancient Lake Biwa strata. During the Momoyama period (1573–1603 CE), known as the ko-Iga era, Iga pottery reached artistic heights as tea ceremony utensils, with a unique aesthetic that celebrated natural ash deposits, scorch marks, and even crackled surfaces as part of the piece’s beauty, collectively called keshiki or “landscapes.”
Fukushima Kazuhiro has inherited the spirit of ko-Iga by building a traditional anagama kiln—a simple, tunnel-shaped, wood-fired kiln used in the ko-Iga era—at his home. By firing at extremely high temperatures for long hours with wood, he allows natural ash glazes and dramatic flame effects to form on the surface of his work.
The Artist and the Elements
While honoring the legacy of ko-Iga, Fukushima seeks new forms of expression through tea bowls and flower vases. He often emphasizes the importance of spending long hours with each piece, sometimes 90 to 130 hours just for the firing. “Creating pottery means confronting nature itself,” he says. “Nature is always changing and unpredictable. It takes years of experience to turn chance into inevitability.”
His works reveal this sense of inevitability infused with the vitality of nature. In his Iga-Oribe matcha bowl, the deep green Oribe glaze shimmers with flashes of vivid blue, while the metallic sheen at the base contrasts with organic irregularities shaped by the kairagi texture, rising like cave formations. Each piece captures the strength of clay, the marks of fire, and the passage of time, leaving the viewer with beauty, depth, and a quiet reverence for nature’s power.
Biography
Fukushima Kazuhiro was born in 1981 in Marubashira, Iga. Growing up in a family of potters surrounded by clay and fire, he initially had no intention of continuing the family tradition. However, at the age of twenty, a chance encounter with clay inspired him to pursue ceramics, leading him to study at the Kyoto Prefectural Ceramic Technical Institute.
He later apprenticed under the renowned ceramic artist Koie Ryoji in Ena, Gifu, whose work bridged tradition and the avant-garde. Koie’s approach, deeply rooted in historical context yet boldly experimental, left a profound impact on Fukushima. He then traveled to Elk Valley, California, to further refine his skills in the anagama wood-firing technique, before returning to his hometown in 2010 to build his own anagama kiln.
Today, while carrying forward the legacy of the Mukai Kiln, Fukushima continues to develop his own artistic voice, creating works that open new dimensions for Iga ware and presenting them to audiences in Japan and abroad.
