Japanese silver grass and the pottery of Japanese bisque in Tamba

Autumn has come to Japan. The blue sky, the light white clouds, the gentle breeze stroking the skin and Japanese silver grass, “susuki” in Japanese, in rural areas invite people to their country-sides. Unlike cherry blossoms which turn people’s bored minds in the deep winter to spring, or the beauty of red maple leaves which is burned into people’s memories before winter, Japanese silver grass never asserts its own self. Japanese silver grass barely shows its beauty in comparison to something else, like the full moon in the night. However Japanese people have loved it since ancient times. Japanese silver grass has a smell of the ground. And it is nostalgic for Japanese people.

There is a series of Japanese potteries similar to silver grass, these are the pottery of Japanese bisque. Unlike the Arita pottery which is known to foreign countries, or the Kutani pottery which is mainly used for dishes at high class Japanese restaurants, the pottery of Japanese bisque is used for daily dishes. It finally asserts its beauty with foods, but the aspect like the ground smell of Japanese bisque garnishes the vividness of the earth to day-to-day foods.

The Tamba pottery of bisque

The Tamba Pottery of bisque is a big pottery town where more than fifty private pottery houses make their own style of pottery. Moreover each pottery house makes many kinds of pottery. In this town there are all kinds of Japanese pottery for daily dishes. You can search for your favorite dish while walking around pottery houses.

On the other hand the name of Tamba conjures up images of good natural foods for Japanese people as well. Black beans, red beans, chestnuts, taros, rice and beef are popular. Especially the wild boar meat of Tamba is the most popular.

The area of Tamba is located in the northwest of Osaka, JR railroad and a regional bus can take you to Tamba in an hour. Between searching for the best pottery for you, you can enjoy seeing the unique rural scenery in Tamba, which is configured by old wooden pottery houses, gently round hills, rice fields and Japanese silver grass in autumn. In addition, good foods made by local natural ingredients, of course on dishes of Tamba pottery of bisque heal the sort of tiredness of walking around. Moreover a little bit of chatting with local people who love living in this region shall cure you.

My wife and I found our favorite pottery house after dropping in and out of some pottery houses. The pottery in that house was beautifully created along a kind of modernism but through the traditional technique of Japanese bisque. After enjoying looking at them and touching some attractive pottery with my hands, we selected the one pictured above and four cups for roasted green tea and paid about eight thousand yen. While the female master was wrapping them I talked with the male master, probably the pottery creator, about how to make pottery. He said that whenever he created pottery, his disciples and him had to maintain the condition of the fire in their kiln for more than two days without sleeping. When we got the pottery from the female master she separately handed me a bundle of black beans (it is valued at nine hundred yen if we buy it at another shop) with a humble words; “if you like, please take it home. The size of a bean is smaller than usual level because of the typhoons.” This was quiet but emotional communication between the female master and us. Of course after thanking her for her unexpected present we took it home.

Nobori Kama (Climbing kiln)

The best heritage in this area is the Nobori Kama (Climbing Kiln) which was built approximately one hundred and thirty years ago. It was reformed three years ago and pottery can be burned in this kiln.

The Nobori Kama is constructed by sun-dried bricks and takes the form of like a straight snake which crawls on a slope of foothills occupying the two meter wide, forty seven meter long. It has nine kiln-rooms which are connected. The mouth which is the top of the straight snake has honeycomb holes.

When we were looking at it, a women wearing a yellow wind-breaker and a yellow cap closely approached us and gave us an explanation of this kiln of her own accord. According to her explanation of how to make pottery in a climbing kiln, it was transferred from Korea in the sixth or seventh century. And making pottery in Tamba began in the eleventh or twelfth century. In response to her explanation I asked a few questions. These questions prompted her to explain to us about it more comprehensively and in more detail. When the kiln is used to make pottery with strong fire, the temperature in the climbing kiln shall be more than 1200 ℃. Coupled with strong fire and natural silica in the mud of bisque, the Tamba pottery of bisque has a blunt radiance.

At last we ended up hearing her explanation to the end. Probably she voluntarily explained to us for more than fifteen minutes. With feeling at ease with each other I asked her if she had been a teacher, so she answered that she had been a high-school teacher of Japanese language. She is in Osaka in everyday life and she comes here to voluntarily explain the history of this town in a holiday. At the end of our communication she proudly said with a big smile that she was happy when she taught somebody.

Although we were kind of tired because of our long walk, we got better owing to her vitality.

I took a deep breath in front of the rural scenery. I felt my body become light. In addition to the distant Japanese silver grass before my eyes we encountered the humbleness, the quiet creativeness and the emotional vitality of this town.