WAY BACK

This is one of those pictures from way back, perhaps 1990? This was our first trip to Shigaraki Valley and of course no trek there would be complete without stopping at the studio of Otani Shiro. I don’t need to recount the unplanned travel itinerary that we were rescued from by the daughter of Honiwa Rakunyu II but luckily Otani-san was home and willing to indulge two foreigners. This is a photo from the inside of his studio where he showed us some recent pots and the tools and clay he used, it was quite an education and awakening as was the stops at a number of other potters in the region. Seeing all these pots first hand, mostly for the first time ever was such a rewarding experience, who could have every imagined that something like the internet would come along and make all of these interactions far easier, all at the end of a keyboard?