Most of the great potters who rediscovered and revived old potting styles in the early to mid years of the 20th century have passed on into the great kiln in the sky. Yet there is one legend who is still potting: Hagi ceramist Kyusetsu Miwa XI.
To celebrate his sotsuju birthday (90), a large exhibition is traveling Japan, kicking off in Tokyo at Nihonbashi Takashimaya department store's sixth art gallery until Jan. 26.
Miwa was a contemporary of the likes of Toyozo Arakawa (1894-1985) and Toyo Kaneshige (1896-1967), both in the first wave of Living National Treasures in the mid-1950s. Miwa was named an LNT for Hagi in 1983, becoming the second LNT for Hagi after his brother Kyuwa Miwa (1895-1981, Kyusetsu X). The Miwa brothers are responsible for putting the spirit of Tea back into the Hagi chawan.