A happy potter in Shigaraki: Michael Wein participated in a residency in Japan.

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MICHAEL WEIN IS AN EXPERIENCED potter of some 25 years standing, mainly self taught, a veteran of many exhibitions, workshops and an avid reader of Japanese pottery books. His dream was to work in Japan, therefore he felt happy and privileged to be accepted into the Shigaraki Institute of Ceramics for a two-month short-term residency in 2006. This is his story:

I packed my bags and made last minute arrangements to leave my family, students and business behind in Australia to follow my dream. It was decided that I would stay in Japan for 3 months, so that I could also visit friends I made on my first visit to Tajimi, Tokoname and Bizen. Arrangements were made for exhibitions in Yugawara, Port Stephens' sister city (where I live in Australia, and Tajimi after my 8 week residency finished in Shigaraki.

My residency was timed to start in April 2006, a beautiful time to be in Japan. I left home full of dreams and ideas, and arrived at my first stop in Kyoto, to see the Raku Museum, some galleries, temples and of course the famous cherry blossom gardens which were in full bloom. The next day I travelled to Ishiama, and then by bus to Shigaraki which proved to be quite an experience because the country roads ascending up the mountains, following a stream, were narrow. The bus pulled off the road and backed up several times to let oncoming traffic pass. The scenery was breathtaking, with wild azaleas, camellias and wisteria growing in the bush of pines and bamboos, so different from our Australian bushland. After one hour of stopping and starting we arrived in Shigaraki, a small picturesque pottery town with many pottery galleries and kilns.

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My first night in Shigaraki I attended a welcoming party, a practice followed with the coming and departing of every artist. I immediately felt at home with these wonderful artists all from different parts of the world. There were six Japanese, four Americans, one lady from Taiwan, one from Scotland, two from France, one from Switzerland, and one from Canada.

In my Japanese book I remember reading that to be a true potter you must make enough pots to stack and fire an anagama kiln, so I immediately booked the smallest of the three kilns, and began throwing pots from the local Shigaraki clay and also from clay I had sent from Australia. I used clay from the Clayworks, made for export, named Kangaroo which we know as woodfiring clay and also some Southern Ice porcelain.

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My pots from Australian clay dried nicely but I was to learn the hard way about Shigaraki clay, as all of my 13 pots made from the local clay cracked. noticed that the Japanese potters covered their work with plastic for two or more days to dry slowly. Once I had learnt how to dry my work the clay was easy to work with. The working conditions in the studio were ideal with under floor heating, the best pottery wheels, motor driven slab rollers, all sizes of gas and electric kilns, the biggest of which you could drive a small truck into, as well as all the technical support on hand needed. Although English was used it is sometimes difficult to get the correct translation.

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My working day started at 7 am because I like working early. My colleagues arrived at 9 or 10 am, and we worked until late with only a brief break for lunch. Our food was international and we all took turns to cook. Food expensive in Japan. We sometimes found a lift to the local supermarket which was one and a half kilometres from the Institute, and bicycles were available for our use as well.

My dream was to finally be a potter who could fire an anagama, but I had made raku my specialty in Australia. It was so inspiring to watch such creative artists at work. The studio space to my left was used by a creative US artist who was making clay female forms some 170 cm tall, and to my right the lady from Taiwan who was making her own clay and throwing pots, she was also studying anagama firing with a local master at his studio. The artist from Switzerland was making paper thin porcelain.

We all had different projects, there were no set rules and everyone could work and bounce ideas off each other, grow in experience and experiment. The local clay was good to use and there were nearly 100 different types and colours at reasonable prices.

Some weeks passed and my pieces were piling up, so I took time off to see some of the Shigaraki sites, the people, potters and kilns. The wonderful Miho Museum, 15 km from the Institute, is a marvel of architecture and natural beauty with cherry blossoms and azaleas in full bloom. The Institute is located in a ceramic park, which has misty mornings and all kinds of blossoms and flowers all year round. It is known as the 'Forest of Pottery', a popular place for picnics and family outings by Japanese and tourists, full of the most inspiring pots and sculptures. We set one evening a week for our visit to the onsen a Japanese hot spring spa. On our journey there 10 km from the Institute, we passed newly planted lime green rice fields, and traditional Japanese villages. To me this was the 'real' Japan.

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After my first month it was time to make plans to fire the anagama, and I decided to share the kiln space with my friend, Toshi, because of the high cost of wood. This would also give me time to concentrate on making some raku and domestic pots. All the pots were low bisque-fired to 800[degrees]C as I wanted to use some shino type glazes on the inside of pots and bowls, much to the horror of the local purist potters, as they never use glazes only naturally derived ash. I was in luck as the smallest anagama was to be fired by local potters that week, and they agreed to fire some small test pots to see the results of my glazes. I could also learn to stack the kiln and help in their six-day firing. When the kiln was unloaded, even the local purists liked the shino and copper glazes I used on the inside and the natural ash on the outside of my pots. I was now confident to start glazing and loading our load of pots. We used a locally ready-made wadding mix under and between our pots. It took a day and a half to load and seal the kiln. We followed the local custom of sake, green leaves and salt for the kiln god ceremony, and started our six-day firing.

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We used so-called rubbish wood from the local sawmills to reach 600[degrees]C in 26 hours. Then we started to use our specialty split 'good pine' bundles. I took the night shift from 10 pm to 8 am, and my friends took turns to help the firing by bringing meals, cups of tea and coffee at 2 am or 4 am, the support and the help was much appreciated. We reached 1300[degrees]C on our third day, and then it was much easier to maintain the temperature at 1240-1280[degrees]C for the next three days to build up ash. On the sixth day we decided to finish at midnight with a party in front of the kiln, with a barbecue, and sake and beer. The firing cost totalled AUD $1600. The next week was spent glazing raku and domestic ware to be fired in the gas kilns.

Finally the day came to undo the door of the anagama, and we found a crowd of local potters waiting to see the pots of the crazy Australian potter who used glaze. When it was unloaded, like all firings some pots were wonderful and others just ordinary. The locals were complimentary, and I had 126 anagama pots to sell. I decided to donate 86 pieces to Port Stephens Sister City Committee to sell or keep for the benefit of any sister city visits. The balance of the pots was to be sold at the Shigaraki and Tajimi exhibitions. I was able to fire raku pots, and one was chosen to be kept in the Institute of Ceramics in Shigaraki. It was sad to leave the Institute after eight weeks of unbelievable camaraderie, hard work and good times spent with my fellow artists.

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The next month I was able to fire an anagama in Tajimi resulting in some great pots for my exhibition. I was lucky to work in a studio of the local raku tea bowl master, and one of my tea bowls was acquired by the Tajimi Potters Society, and one large anagama pot was kept by the local museum.

The next stop was Tokoname, where I visited Ryogy Koie in his beautiful studio situated overlooking the river and valley in Ena, and made some pots on his Bernard Leach-style kick wheel.

I was fortunate to meet two national and four regional treasures, but nothing was as good as being part of the artist group in Shigaraki which made me a better potter and a better person.

Michael Wein is a ceramic artist from Nelson Bay, NSW.