Nippon Scape

There’s a little pottery gallery hidden away near Kamakura’s Kataseyama Station on the Shonan Monorail. The name of the shop is Utsuwa Shoken. If you walk down the quiet residential street, you’ll find its little signboard there. Look past the signboard and there’s a lovely building situated up on high ground. This is Utsuwa Shoken. For some reason even on a weekday afternoon the customers come in a steady stream. Despite the tough economic situation and the less-than convenient location, people still gather here. The person behind this wonderful place is a multitalented woman. In addition to running the shop, she also writes and edits for print, as well as producing music. Her name is Tomoo Shoken. She’s got a remarkable ability to execute her own vision one after another. We discussed her secret over tea.

Hello. Even though you’re not located in a commercial district, the customers just keep coming in, don’t they?

For some reason, everyone makes the effort to come out here, and for that I’m very grateful. The customers especially seem to come when the other staff member has a day off and I’m here by myself! (laughs)

What was the basis for your idea to set up shop here?

When you think about it, dishes are something people deal with every day until they die. I’m talking about dishes in the sense of “tools for eating.” But when people hear about “dishes” and “pottery” they often shrink away and say, “I’m not too good with that kind of thing.” That’s why I wanted to make a space like this where I could introduce some really good ceramics artists to people and let them experience the works in a relaxed atmosphere.

The customers who were just in bought quite a few pieces. Do you ever have a chance to hear feedback from people after they’ve bought things from you?

Actually, I often do. I’ll get a call at nine in the morning, saying, “I just used my dishes for the first time, and I cried.” Dishes are just inanimate objects, but I think they transmit something through touch and can affect change on people.

That’s remarkable. I’ve never been so happy about a purchase that I phoned up the store at nine in the morning. Not once.

But they’re made from earth, and if someone puts their soul into their ceramic works, I think it’s possible to make something that will move a person to tears. It may be naïve, but as I’ve been working telling people about pottery, I’ve begun to believe that dishes are something that come back to human hands.

Could you explain a bit more what you mean by “come back to human hands?”

They say our bodies are made from some kind of primodial material, and food vessels are made by human hands by using a mixture of the basic elements of earth, water, and fire. I think if we can feel the soil through the dishes we use everyday, that could be a good thing. The dishes we use everyday are something to be held in the hand. If that experience of daily contact can be used to convey something important, then you’ve got something good. It’s not just dishes, but everything comes back to human hands. For example, here are some works by ceramics artist Teppei Ono. By touching his earthy works, your skin can get in touch with not theory, but something like the basis for life itself.

Do you mean that by touching the pieces people can feel a connection to planet earth?

Well, that’s taking it a bit far, but in actuality I think there’s something there that can only be explained in such a way.

OK, now I see what you mean. The pieces in the shop seem to have been quite painstakingly hand-selected. What kind of criteria do you use for choosing the works you carry?

Basically, I choose pieces that are: nothing special, real, not exaggerated, and which incorporate seamlessly with everyday life. Said more simply, I choose pieces which are not trying to make a big statement. Pieces which your own grandparents could feel comfortable using.

Dishes truly are an important component of daily life. But, it must be a lot of work to choose from the multitude of works of the many artists you represent, choosing which ones to carry in the shop.

I put a lot of value into the time I spend with the people who make the works I carry. I always visit them at their studios and eat together with them, talking not just about pottery but also talking with the other members of their families about all kinds of things. By learning about what kind of place they live in and what kind of food they eat, I’m able to understand the message they put into their works, and I’m able to tell others about their pieces in my own way.

The world needs both “people making things” and “people telling others,” so I think the role of someone like you is very important. I’m in awe of the passion you have for pottery. Where does that passionate energy come from?

In my case, for some reason I have loved pottery ever since I was a child. And I was never asked to do it by anyone, but something inside me told me to do it, and I started going around taking pictures and writing articles. I must have looked like a real idiot. Even I don’t think what I was doing was quite normal. So I think I must have been born to tell people about pottery dishes.

You must have been born to do it. Oh, I wish I could say that about myself someday. Now tell me, what kind of work did you do before you founded this shop and made it what it is today?

Actually, in addition to running this shop, I also write and publish books, and produce musical events and CDs. But previously, I was a writer who mainly did interviews. But then I got married and had a child. And I found myself thinking, once my child gets bigger, will I go back to the same writing job? And I began to think, “If I go on this way, what will I regret when I die?” That was when I decided I wanted to do work with the pottery that I had always loved. That’s when I started this gallery. But at first, I was so scattered. I had my writing work, and I loved pottery and had this shop , and I also had a book that I’d put together myself.

And now six years have passed since you started your shop, Utsuwa Shoken. How are your feelings about things now?

I’ve noticed that there is a connecting thread between all the things I work on; pottery, books, and music. It might be cheeky of me to say, but I feel I’m doing work that helps to encourage people. I’m not trying to put on airs, it’s what I’ve really noticed.

It must be your clear vision and the support of your family that has allowed you to come this far.

It’s true. I’m so grateful to my family for putting up with my self-centered ways. But I always make sure we eat together as a family. That’s very important to me. Even if I’m very busy with my work, I always make sure we all eat together. The people making these wonderful ceramic works are the same way. They don’t put everything into just making the dishes, they also value the act of eating very highly. It’s those elements of the everyday parts of life that come together to make good pots. But I think eating really is one of the most important things for us living now, and it’s not “going back to the hand” but I think that everything comes back to eating, and that’s why I want to keep on telling people about dishes.

News!

Starting May 1, 2009, “utsuwa-shoken onari NEAR” has opened. It’s four minutes walk from Kamakura Station in an old-fashioned shopping arcade on Onari street. It’s a very convenient location. Please stop by if you have a chance.

utsuwa-shoken　onari NEAR
Onari-cho 5-28, Kamakura City, Kanagawa

Closed: Thursdays

Open: 12:00 – 19:00