Kazuya Ishida

Pottery runs in Kazuya Ishida’s blood. For generations, his family have lived and worked in the heart of ‘Bizen ware’ — the city of Bizen located in Okayama prefecture in western Japan and where Ishida was born and raised. Ishida now continues his family’s legacy, bringing ‘Bizen ware’ into the contemporary.

‘Bizen ware’ is a traditional form of pottery that was introduced to the Japanese mainland from Korea during the Kofun period (250 – 538 AD). To this day, it is celebrated as one of Japan’s six renowned pottery styles alongside Shigaraki, Tamba, Echizen, Seto and Tokoname — all of which produce unglazed pottery that is fired at a high-temperature.

Ishida uses two types of kiln: a wood-fire multi-chamber climbing kiln called a ‘noborigama’ and a single-chamber climbing kiln called a ‘anagama’. Before carving his own career as an independent potter, Ishida trained with Bizen master Jun Isezaki for four years and later in the UK where he was exposed to different pottery styles. In 2013, he returned to Bizen and established his own pottery studio. Two years later, the University of Oxford invited him to participate in the Anagama project for whom he has subsequently led a number of resident potter classes.

Ishida’s pieces are characterised by distinctive spiral markings called ‘Rahou’ — which he says are inspired by his adolescent passion for breakdance. Through his work, Ishida pushes the boundaries of Bizen-ware’s traditional materials: natural clay and ash glazes. Working within the limits of his traditional craft, Ishida achieves distinctly contemporary forms that incorporate primordial and organic shapes and textures that speak to the ocean bed, cliff faces, pebbles and seashells. His pottery undeniably captures nature’s rhythms and patterns in a traditional Japanese ceramic form that still manages to be incredibly dynamic and contemporary.

Kazuya Ishida was born into a family of potters in the city of Bizen in Okayama prefecture where “Bizen ware” was developed based on the manufacturing method of Sue pottery with blue-grey pottery introduced from the Korean peninsula during the Kofun period (around 250 to 538 AD).
Among with the six styles Shigaraki, Tamba, Echizen, Seto and Tokoname “Bizen ware” is one of the most outstanding traditional Japanese kilns as for unglazed high temperature-fired pottery.

Ishida uses wood-fired “noborigama”, multiple chambers climbing kiln and “anagama”, single chamber climbing kiln. He trained with Jun Isezaki, a Living National Treasure in Bizen for four years, followed by spending time in the UK learning different styles of pottery before established his own studio in Bizen in 2013. He was invited to the Anagama Project organised by the University of Oxford in 2015, since then leads resident potter classes.

The sculptures and vases Ishida creates have distinctive spiral marks, called “Rahou” which he inspired by the style of breakdance during his teens.

In using limited natural clay and ash glazes in the tradition of Bizen ware he challenges for creating contemporary forms within a range of reflections of the primordial, rippled textures and patterns of ocean beds, tectonic shifts of cliff faces, and pebbles and seashells. Bizen artisans, past and present, have considered different ways of adapting to the qualities of the clay. Ishida is one of the successful artists for exploring rhythms and patterns of nature, not only introducing viewers of Japanese ceramic aesthetics, but also a new unrecognisable challenged artisan with dynamic and skilful artistic forms as in a piece of artwork.