A Lifelong Journey of Creating Beauty through Porcelain

“Beauty is the end goal—the target. But you can’t just pursue beauty; there are many different intentions and steps to get there.”
—Yoshita Minori

For centuries, mastery of the arts has been central to Japanese culture. From ikebana to calligraphy, from lacquering to ceramics, devoted artisans have poured their hearts and souls into becoming connoisseurs of their crafts.

However, this lifelong pursuit of perfection hit a roadblock after World War II. Faced with an economic recession, artisans struggled to source even basic materials such as wood to light up a kiln.

It was at this time that Yoshita Minori, the third-generation owner of Kinzangama Kiln, decided he would create Kutani-yaki, a style of porcelain of such breathtaking beauty that the world would take heed.

“Beauty is the end goal—the target,” says Minori, who was honoured as a National Living Treasure of Japan in 2001. “But you can’t just pursue beauty; there are many different intentions and steps to get there.”

To realize this vision, Minori focused on refining the ancient Kutani-yaki technique; in so doing, he enabled artisans to create beautiful objects in ways they never had before.

Innovation through adversity

An art form dating to the mid-17th century, Kutani-yaki is a style of ceramics with glazed enamels produced in the Ishikawa prefecture of central Japan. As its processes became more efficient and its techniques further enhanced, Kutani-yaki became Japan’s premier ceramics export in the Meiji era (1868–1912).

During this period, Minori’s grandfather, Yoshita Shosaku, gained a reputation for being among the most skilled artisans in woodblock colour prints and decorative gold techniques. After establishing Kinzangama Kiln in 1906, Shosaku passed his decorative techniques to subsequent generations.

“During the first generation of the Kiln, Kutani-yaki was flourishing in Japan and abroad. My grandfather’s designs using gold were very luxurious and glamorous,” Minori says. As Japan’s economy hit a recession post-World War II and the country worked to regain its international standing, artisans struggled to find materials and to pursue their work.

Inspired by the arts and crafts movement and its focus on traditional, handmade decorative works, Minori went on to study art in Europe. When he returned to Japan in 1951 and took over Kinzangama Kiln, he was no longer interested in mass-producing Kutani-yaki. Instead, he wanted to create one-of-a-kind pieces that would help the company and his homeland regain their prominence.

This process of refinement taught him perseverance and tenacity. “Kutani-yaki is a very long and tedious process,” Minori says. “It’s a natural tendency to want to cut corners or put in less effort, but it was through my struggles with Kutani-yaki—giving my 100% to the process and never compromising—that I broke through,” he says.
As Minori worked on refining the art form, he also perfected the technique of Yuri-kinsai, a feat that would later earn him a lifetime honour.

Perfecting the craft

Japanese artisans have used gold in the form of leaves and powder as decorations since the Edo period. While these gold ornamentations were protected by a glaze, the gold itself was extremely fragile, making it difficult to work with.

In the mid-20th century, artisans attempted to apply gold on ceramics using the newly developed Yuri-kinsai technique. The latter, however, was limited in that it could only create geometric patterns. Minori wanted to find a way to create curved lines.

He thus turned to another Japanese decorative technique, Kirikane, which involved placing gold leaves on deer skin and cutting them with a bamboo knife. Since he wanted to cut small and delicate gold leaves, Minori experimented with various types of thin paper, holding the gold leaf flat between the leaves using a tweezer-like tool and cutting them into a desired shape.

“I’ve made many mistakes developing this method,” Minori says. “It took me a long time to master it.”

After five gruelling years, he finally perfected the art. Now, birds, butterflies, and flowers adorn his Kutani-yaki wares—an undertaking that was once impossible. Minori went on to add dimensionality to his designs by using gold leaves of varying thicknesses.

Thirty years later his achievements in Yuri-kinsai were recognized, earning him the accolade of “National Living Treasure.”

A change of heart

When Minori’s son, Yukio, took over Kinzangama Kiln, their visions clashed.

“I wanted to change everything,” Yukio says. He thought his father’s highly intricate work was outdated. Yukio was instead drawn to minimalist, modern works of art that featured avant-garde shapes.

In spite of their differences of opinion on the aesthetic direction of the company, Yukio strove—just like his father—to further advance his craft. In particular, Yukio excelled in Kinrande, a porcelain style in which the artisan applies gold decorations on multi-coloured glazed porcelain wares.

Interestingly, as he refined his own technique, Yukio became increasingly drawn to the classical, more ornate designs his father was known for. But he brought his own style, applying more colour to Kutani-yaki—such as soft palettes reminiscent of watercolour paintings—with the goal of showing the beauty of colours and of gold.

“I still have the desire to do something new, but the new creative things should also have roots in history,” Yukio says. “We must protect the techniques of Kutani-yaki, but in order to do that we have to find new expressions.”

Ultimately, the success and longevity of Kinzangama Kiln depend as much on the family’s determination to protect and preserve traditional artistic crafts as they do on their willingness to embrace innovation.

At 90, that spirit of learning still burns within Minori. “I’m still learning,” he says.” My best work is yet to come.”