Takeda Yoshihiro

Sojin kiln, at the foot of Shiroishi castle, aims at work in blue that reflects the beauty of the landscape around it.

Born in the Kansai region, raised in the United States. A company transfer brought me to Sendai. I came across ceramics by chance, and after two or three years of wondering whether I could become a potter, I left a large company. While working toward that, I sharpened my skills in sales, and when the chance came to rent a studio in Zao I moved to Shiroishi in Miyagi prefecture. What I hold to is expressing the beauty of nature in blue.
Alongside ceramics I am involved in supporting inquiry projects for high school students and in local community work, and through ceramics I value the conversations I have with people, trying to make everyone I work with a little happier.

The beauty of nature is my theme. Because I am largely self-taught, I order in all sorts of clays and test glazes, holding to the aim of expressing in ceramics the landscapes I have found beautiful: a lake, a wide sky, an open sea.

I knead the clay, raise the form, wait for it to dry, and then apply the glazes in sections. Opening the kiln is the greatest pleasure, and the most nerve-racking moment. I hope many people will pick up my work, find it enjoyable to use, and feel something of a richer way of living.

I want to hold to the beauty of nature, and to deepen my ties with people through ceramics and through what I do each day. So far I have worked on collaborations that create new value, such as sake ware to go with the sake of the Zao brewery, and ceramics made with deer bone together with hunters in Zao.

Shiroishi is not known for ceramics. Snowmelt runs down from the Zao mountains, the nature is rich, and there are traditional crafts such as washi paper and kokeshi dolls. In the Edo period there was also the lost Shiroishi ware. In this place, I want to bring a new craft into being.

Yes, I am a potter.