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Clay from Uji has supported the production of Asahi pottery for four hundred years.
Today this clay is dug from Mt.Orii, which faces the workshop across the Uji River.
Among the many varieties of clay stored in the workshop, the oldest was dug by the ninth
generation master, Chobei, in the mid-nineteenth century. The firing effect called kase,
in particular, requires the well-aged(naturally weathered) clay dug by Chobei or his
successors through the twelfth generation, Shosai, The clay we dig today will finally
become usable for pottery in our grandchildren's generation.
The encounter of this clay, cured over many generations, with the pine flames of the
tunnel kiln or climbing kiln produces the distinctive Asahi version of the effect called
gohonde. only the subtle environment within the kiln can produce this coloration, as
minute quantities of iron and other metals within the clay respond to the undulation of the
kiln's atmosphere between oxygen-rich and oxygen-starved states.
This is a pattern created by the interaction of clay and fire. The flow of the abruptly
changing flame of pine fuel produces a great variety of individualized effects on the same
clay and glaze, with no two pieces exactly alike. While many failures result, outstanding
pieces with colorations of unforeseen beauty also emerge.
The mainstay of the Asahi pottery has been the two variations of gohonde known as kase
and hanshi. To these classic wares the previous master, Yukoan, andthe present master,
Hosai, added their own innovations, each called "red kase". The generations of
workshop masters have pursued other distinctive themes as well, including porcelain sets
for steeped tea (sencha) with many-colored glazes, Geppaku (Moon white) glaze, and isu
ash graze.
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What is ″gohon″?
Originally this name (and the variation gohonde) designated tea bowls made at kilns in the
vicinity of Pusan, Korea, after models (gohon) sent fron Japan in the late 16th and 17th
centuries. Since many of those bowls bore colorful mottled patterns in the clay, the word
gohon also refers now to pottery bearing such patterns, and sometimes it designates those
patterns themselves.
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What is ″kase″?
This term (meaning "deer's back") designates the fired appearance of clay dug from Mt. Orii
and specially selected for its fine grain and capacity to withstand high temperatures. The
yellow-toned speckled pattern, when combined with thinly-thrown forms, effuses as severe yet
refined beauty.
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What is ″hanshi″?
The character han corresponds to "fire" or "flame", andit refers to wares fired by a kiln
master. In contrast to the yellow tone of kase, its mottled pattern has a warm pink tonality.
The slight roughness of the clay is simple and soft and conveys a heartwarming impression.
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