Tajimi is seeing a sharp rise in long stay visitors who come to hone their pottery skills from local masters after the Covid restrictions on individual travel were lifted. Read more in our latest article.

We took a nightly walk in the Kokeizan park the other day and were reminded again how sweet it is to live off the beaten path, not having to fight the crowds in the sakura season! We wrote an article on the subject a couple of years ago, and invite you to come and read our tips on how to enjoy the cherry blossoms here in Tajimi! 

A massive ceramics festival - including an international competition - will be held in Tajimi in September and October.

NOTE: The opening date has been delayed to September 30.

"This is an international competition which aims to promote the further development of ceramic industry and culture through international exchanges of ceramic designs and culture. Outstanding works that suggest innovative ideas and explore the future of ceramics coming from all over Japan and the world will be displayed all together." Access the site here for more information.

We have written a long form article on the festival, which is available here.

​The Suigetsugama Kiln - recognized as an Intangible Cultural Property by the local government - is holding an exhibition in Tajimi from May to June 2021. The ceramics exhibition is held in collaboration with Akio Kato of Komaki City, who has documented the kiln in black-and-white beautiful photographs. The photographer specializes in documenting craftsmen around Japan. The Suigetsugama Kiln was built in 1946 by the famous potter Toyozo Arakawa on Mt. Kokei. Suigetsugama is the only kiln in the Mino region - renowned for its pottery tradition - that has been designated by Tajimi City as an Intangible Cultural Property. The pottery produced here is true to the ancient Mino ware tradition.

​“Suigetsugama ceramics are made to be useful utilities for everyday use, yet display a clear personality. The longer you use them the more you will be attached to them and they become part of your life,” exhibitor Shigeki Mizuno says. The works are all produced by hand from beginning to end, from clay preparation to molding, to firing. The firing is done in a multiple chamber ascending kiln. The styles produced here - Kohiki, Sometsuke, Karatsu, Iroe, and Kenzan, are all characterized by their warmness and softness, all having an air of hand-made crafts. Works by the late ToyozōArakawa (荒川 豊蔵, Arakawa Toyozō, March 21, 1894 - August 11, 1985) as well as the present kiln master Shigeki Mizuno are displayed in the pleasant atmosphere of the Oribe Gallery, near Tajimi Station.

Tel: +81572568830
Web: ​http://oribe-minoyaki.com/oribe-minoyaki.com/

In two short 180 VR videos Izumi Hayashi (林 いづみ) with the Curatorial Department at the Gifu Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art introduce the art of the UK ceramist Stephanie Quayle. Using a VR headset you will be able to appreciate the three dimensionality of the sculptures. To view, we recommend to use a headset such as the Oculus Quest. Use the free YouTube VR app from the Oculus store and search for TAJIMI CLAY IN VR to view the ３D video. NOTE: No English subtitles.

You can also view in 2d on your PC or smartphone: part 01, and part 02.

About the exhibition: The boundaries between art, design, ceramics, sculpture and other artistic disciplines are becoming increasingly blurred as a result of the variety of materials and techniques used in the production of art. In this context, both in Japan and abroad, clay is being rethought as a material for a wide range of forms, and explored beyond the traditional field of ceramics. In this exhibition, the fundamental motifs of humans and animals are explored by five artists from Japan and abroad: Beth Cavener (USA), Susan Halls (UK), Yoshitomo Nara (Japan), Stephanie Quayle (UK) and Kim Simonsson (Finland). Each of the artists has a particular interest in combining the qualities of clay with the life and reality of living things. We hope you will enjoy the variety of these works, which highlight the power of clay and new aspects of clay art.

Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (admission until 5:30 p.m.) ◎ Closed: Mondays (except Monday 5 and Monday 3), Thursday 6 May ◎ Admission: ¥900 (¥800) for adults, ¥700 (¥600) for university students, free for high school students and younger. Free admission for one person and one accompanying person with the following certificates (Physical Disability Certificate, Mental Disability Certificate, Rehabilitation Certificate, Specified Medical Expenses (Designated Incurable Disease).

〒507-08 01 岐阜県多治見市東町4-2-5（セラミックパークMINO 内）
TEL : 0572-28-3100    FAX: 0572-28-3101
URL: http://www.cpm-gifu.jp/museum Twitter: https://twitter.com/gpmomca (@gp momca)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cpm.gifu.museum
Exhibition pamphlet at the bottom of this posting.

HUMAN AND ANIMAL (2021.4.24 - 6.20)

岐阜県現代陶芸美術館ギャラリー 詳しくは VRヘッドセットを使用することで、彫刻の立体感を味わうことができます。ご覧になるには、Oculus Questなどのヘッドセットのご利用をお勧めします。Oculusストアから無料のYouTube VRアプリを使用し、「TAJIMI CLAY IN VR」で検索すると3Dで映像を見ることができます。

PCやスマホの方はこちらから展示のインタビューの様子が見られます。
パート０１　パート０２

多様な素材や手法が用いられて美術作品が制作される現代、アート・デザイン・陶芸・彫刻といった芸術の諸分野の境界線は、ますます曖昧になっています。そのなかで、日本、また海外でも、「土」が広く造形の素材として捉えなおされ、素材としての土に、従来の陶芸分野に留まらない幅広い表現の可能性が見いだされています。本展では、人と動物という根源的なモチーフに、土素材を通じて向き合う国内外の5作家、ペス・カヴェナー（アメリカ）、スーザン・ホールズ（イギリス）、奈良美智（日本）、ステファニー・クエール（イギリス）、キム・シモンソン（フィンランド）による陶作品や関連作品、約100点をご紹介します。作家らは、それぞれの関心のもと、土素材の特質に、いきもののもつ生命とリアリティを重ね合わせ、表現しています。土がもつ力、そして土のアートの新たな局面を浮き彫りにする、多彩ないきものたちの姿をお楽しみください。

岐阜県現代陶芸美術館ギャラリーI
◎開館時間：午前10時～午後6時（入館は午後5時30分まで）◎休館日：月曜日（ただし、5月3日［月・祝］は
開館）、5月6日（木）◎観覧料：一般900円(800円）、大学生700円(600円）、高校生以下無料＊（ ）内は20名以上の
団体料金＊以下の手帳をお持ちの方および付き添いの方1名まで禦料（身体隷害者手帳、精神隷害者保健福祉手帳、療育手帳、特定医
療費（指定鰭病）受給者証）◎主催：岐阜県現代陶芸美術館◎共催：中日新聞社◎企画協力：ヒュース・テン

〒507-08 01 岐阜県多治見市東町4-2-5（セラミックパークMINO 内）
TEL : 0572-28-3100    FAX: 0572-28-3101
URL: http://www.cpm-gifu.jp/museum Twitter: https://twitter.com/gpmomca (@gp momca)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cpm.gifu.museum

The Tajimi pottery festival was held on April 10 and 11 with good and attractions on display around our city. A large number of pottery lovers gathered to look through the stands crammed with all kinds of ceramics, including the Mino ware the area is famous for. Street performers lured large crowds, showing of everything from acrobatics and juggling to balance acts and musical performances. Tajimi is situated in the middle of the world's largest production area for ceramics, and vertically every kind of goods are produced here due to the very rich deposits of high quality clay.

The festival area is spread out from the station all the way to the old City Hall. There was a large variety of food stands, cafés and restaurants serving the visitors, and the beer was extra tasty in the warm spring day.

A new high-profile project to promote the city's proud ceramics tradition was present in the form of the four main characters in the upcoming animated series for TV, Yakunara Mug Cup Mo ("Let's make a mug cup too"). Look here for a collection of promotional films and trailers we have produced for the series.

There are plenty opportunities to be surprised when you stroll around the area (the walk from the station to the end of the festival area takes around twenty minutes). For example, when I stepped into one of the shops I discovered this beautiful garden at the back. There is also a café in the same shop with a view over the garden. I also discovered a table full of miniatures of historic, traditional pottery, and had a great conversation with the potter himself. The little plates are popular and sell for 3,000 yen a piece, he told me.

“YAKUMO” is short for “Yakunara Mug Cup Mo”. The “Kurukuru Rokuro [spinning potter's wheel] Manga” is about high school girls and the Togei-bu (pottery club) set in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture.

An animetelevision series adaptation by Nippon Animation is set to premiere in April 2021 (we have several teasers on this site). Here is a commercial introducing the voice actors. We are publishing a series of commercials in English only available on this website.

The manga is distributed as a free magazine in Tajimi, Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo four times a year. English version back numbers are available as free .pdf downloads from this website.

2020 is a special year for pottery in Mino, the Ceramic Valley of Japan. There is the grand International Ceramics Festival and competition, where three cities in the historic Mino Province - now a part of Gifu Prefecture - join forces to present the ceramic culture and industry in the region. Many events will take place here. Of interest next month is the Momoyama pottery exhibition at The Tajimi City Minoyaki Museum.  The Azuchi–Momoyama period is the final phase of the Sengoku or Warring States period in Japan and It spans the years from c. 1573 to 1600. It was a time of constant war, but also of new heights in the world of pottery. The samurai had taken Zen and the tea ceremony to heart, and fine tea bowls were highly valued and admired. Bowls produced in the Mino region belong to the finest in this tradition. We have covered the development of Mino ware during this period extensively on this site.

This special exhibition of Momoyama Mino ware opens on February 14 (Fri) and lasts until May 17 (Sun). This is an opportunity to see some of the most brilliant pottery ever created in Japan. The museum also offer opportunities to drink from tea bowls made by the masters in Mino, as well as English speaking guides.

This exhibition is a real treat for the art lover! You will find a variety of art in the style of Komura Settai, many of them his own works, some by others and some contemporary. We spent hours in the exhibition halls. Recommended!

Tajimi Tourist Association is now running a program including around 70 different experiences where you can see and try a wide variety of ceramics and pottery related creative work.  Experiences available in English are listed in this article. Tajimi sits in the centre of the world's largest ceramics production area. The program runs from October 10 (Thur) to December 22 (Sun). A downloadable pamphlet is available here. Check our event calendar to see what is going on day by day. Welcome!