Kozan Miyagawa and his studio Makuzu kiln
There are likely few potters who changed their styles as often as Kozan Miyagawa Ⅰ. Showing his affinity for the Meiji government’s spirit of strengthening the nation and fostering new industries, Kozan produced wares of consistently high quality throughout his career to suit the tastes of international buyers and other customers.
Ikuma Arishima, the Yokohama-born painter who frequently visited the Makuzu kiln with his father, had this to say about Kozan:
“The old man Kozan had a shiny bald head that made him look like a monk, but the sharp sparkle in his eyes seemed destined to outshine his bald head. He was somewhat like a modern Picasso, but instead of spiritual peace he showed a burning fighting spirit, and the venomous tongue of his Kyoto dialect could burst into flames at any moment. At a time when ceramics were in decline, he came from Makuzugahara in Kyoto to the newly opened port city of Yokohama and worked diligently on his own for the sake of Japanese ceramics, manfacturing one masterpiece after another for international buyers.”
(Chuokoron anniversary commemorative issue, 1965)
Kozan’s Makuzu kiln was a workshop that became the pride of Meiji-era Japan. Many of the pieces produced at the kiln, whether made for show at exhibitions or for use as models (these would be produced by second and third-generation successors after Kozan Ⅰ’s death), were crafted by Kozan himself, although some of the pieces were made by other potters. Artisans with outstanding skills in each step of the process, from shaping at the wheel to forming to painting, put every ounce of their energy into crafting the works.
The term “workshop” (kōbō in Japanese) brings to mind a place that mass-produces inferior wares with little artistic merit, but Kozan Ⅰ’s Makuzu kiln produced pottery of exceptional quality. For the workshop to produce the types of ware that Kozan had envisioned required him to call on highly skilled artisans and give them intense motivation. Fortunately, Kozan possessed the level of skill and sensitivity that artisans respected, along with a sense of humanity.
Kozan was born in Kyoto, the cultural center of Japan, to a family that had been in the pottery business for generations. He studied art from a young age and became well-versed in both Japanese and Chinese ceramics. His skills as a potter were so celebrated that even before building his kiln in Yokohama, he was invited to supervise a kiln in Mushiage, Okayama, and was called by Satsuma clan retainer Komatsu Tatewaki to come to Satsuma and improve Naeshirogawa ware. This earned Kozan a reputation for his outstanding skills and sensibility that lured many talented artisans to his Makuzu kiln in Yokohama.
His apprentice Kizan Itaka said this about Kozan.
“The old man Kozan was relentless not only in his art, but also in things like work and day-to-day order. His apprentices gave him nicknames such as Mōrin (for “policeman”) and Jan-jan. We would warn each other, “Look out, here comes Mōrin.” When his work did not go as he had hoped or he wanted to offer encouragement, he would lower both hands into fists and slap his apprentices' hips as he patrolled the workshop firing out warnings and encouragements in his Kyoto dialect. However, his affection for his apprentices was unequaled, and to those who had come far from their hometowns leaving behind their homes and relatives, he would at times seem like a parent and at times like a Buddha. He treated his apprentices quite well and made sure they never left him for another master.
(Excerpted from a book from the exhibition Things about Master Kozan
Kozan Miyagawa-ten Zuroku, Yomiuri Shimbun, 1986)
Master Kozan often said that if an order for pottery came, ‘I can’t make this at my workshop’ is something he must never say. Whether it was an order for cinnabar lacquer, celadon porcelain, blue and white ceramics, or something colored with a rough sketch, whether it was Shigaraki, Tamba, Bizen, Kutani, or overglazed enamel, we had to make the best.”
(Conversation with Itaka Kizan, “Yurin No. 403”)
Not only did Kozan master a wide range of existing pottery techniques at a high level, but he also developed new glaze materials and techniques, and changed his style with a constant awareness of demand and evolution.
However, some things never changed throughout Kozan’s life as a potter. These were the uncompromising quality of his work, and his commitment to the “inherent beauty of Japan”.
The works of Kozan Miyagawa Ⅰ call to mind the passionate spirit and pride of the people of Meiji-era Japan, who refused to be outdone by their Western counterparts.