HONOHO

Not that this will make for a very interesting blog post but considering the "I have nothing to say so I will blog about it" origins of my blog, here goes. I encountered the Honoho ceramic magazine back in 1998 or 1999 at  the Kinokuniya bookstore in NYC. Since that time and on various trips to Japan I have put together almost a complete set. I am still missing No.1 that was lost when a box packed by a moving company was lost along with two bronzes that were gifts from the artists but I digress and to the point of this post. Over the years, I continually thumb through the various books, catalogues and issues of the Honoho  gleaning a ground level history of modern Japanese pottery and though the articles (of the Honoho) are the focal point of the publication, it is equally as interesting to see the ads that go in to each issue. The articles, spotlights and ads give a glimpse in to fashion and trends with the popular potters and ceramic artists being given the lion's share of the content and considering the magazine dates back to 1983 you can see who is in vogue and who is missing from the publication along the way. The main staples are the likes of Kawai, Rosanjin, Okabe Mineo, Kato Tokuro, Arakawa and other giants of the field but you never know who you will find from issue to issue and if you pay enough attention you can gather trends within the field, who is hot and who is not.

To this end, illustrated is a quick shot from a Honoho issue of a Shigaraki slab tsubo by Furutani Michio. Dating to 1990, this pot is linked with Furutani as one of his most iconic and classic forms which he has made in a variety of shapes and sizes, each one unique but connected within a wonderful body of work left by this pioneering  and sorely missed potter.

"I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
There names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who." Rudyard Kipling