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Originating in China, celadon ware has always been well received in Japan as tea implements. Among celadon works that have survived the ages, many have achieved the designation of national treasure or important cultural assets. There are quite a few ceramicists today who focus on the creation of celadon and green-white porcelain, and these have become a core expression of contemporary Japanese ceramics. Among Japan’s foremost celadon artists, Okabe Mineo deserves a special mention. Okabe’s worldview has inspired many ceramists after him, and his influence is still palpable to date. Though this essay gives an introduction to contemporary Japanese celadon creations, naturally not all of the ceramicist working in this medium can be covered in this overview. As such, this essay will focus on Okabe’s work as point of departure, and introduce Japan’s celadon production through the key concept of “tradition.”

Okabe Mineo's progression toward celadon production
Okabe Mineo 1919-1990 began working in pottery from youth, and received accolades for his work in Ko Seto, Shino and Oribe ware. During his career, Okabe discovered signs of celadon transformation in the kiln firing process while working with ash glaze in 1962. He began focusing on isolating these processes, and as a result, achieved a new pinnacle for celadon in contemporary Japanese ceramic history. Celadon refers to ceramics with white body and glaze that express a bluish-green color. In composition and principles of origin, celadon glazes are basically the same as ash glazes, with their coloration dependent on traces of iron present in the glaze. Celadon can thus be said to be the result of two millennia of continuous improvement on ash glaze.
Okabe’s transition from working with ash glazes to celadon parallels the development of celadon itself from origins as an ash glaze. Okabe himself, in an essay accompanying a catalog for an 1971 solo exhibition, wrote “The final gesture my earthenware art has taken the form of celadon – following the same progression as Chinese earthenware, which reached its final peak with celadon ware that emerged from the official kilns of the Song dynasty.” Okabe was able to objectively contextualize his own path and position within the panorama of history. He distilled his own contemporary artistic direction and value within the context of history. We will go back to this point again as we explore concepts of “tradition” in recent times.
In the generally accepted evaluation of Okabe’s work, most surmise that his artistic originality arose from initially imitation and replication. From these discussions we can discern an unconscious worship and belief in the artist’s natural genius, personality and creativity. In reality, Okabe had endless questions about techniques and style, and spent countless hours repetitively experimenting to derive the subtle clues that served as a foundation from which he made incremental progress. In order to avoid over-attributing this arduous process to natural-born genius, it is necessary to understand the practice of imitation and replication.
For instance, the generally accepted definition of imitation is the reproduction of the original template, or creating something that is close to an exact copy of the original. However, the addition of creative thought in the process of imitation requires the artist to reproduce the spirit and consciousness of the era embodied by the template (experiential retracing) to achieve a cumulative experience. This differs from an imitation of simply surface and form, but is rather a sort of spiritual interaction between artists that transcends space and time. The contemporary characteristics of Okabe’s work come from such an over-layering of history and self-awareness.

Recent Japanese celadon – Imperial Court Artists
The state of Japanese celadon before Okabe can be gleaned from the system of Imperial Court Artists that began in 1890. The objective of the imperial Court Artist system was for the royal family to reward national artistic activities by highlighting and giving patronage to outstanding artists. In the genre of ceramics, there were five potters who have been bestowed this honor, including Seifu Yohei III, Miyagawa Kozan, Suwa Sozan, Tozan Ito, and Hazan Itaya. Works by Seifu Yohei, Miyagawa Kozan and Suwa Sozan will be included in this exhibition. Seifu Yohei (1851-1914) was the first ceramicist to receive the honor of Imperial Court Artists in 1893. He produced pottery in Kyoto’s Gojo-zaka area, creating highly technical blue-white ceramics, celadon, porcelain, and monochromatic porcelain, and others. His work was refined and elegant and was exhibited in the World Expo to an international audience. Seifu’s work was clearly influenced by China’s Qing dynasty pottery, most notably the monochromatic glazes and innovations in glazing of that era. His use of glaze was highly regarded, including his celadon glazing technique. Seifu refrained from mere imitation, often adding his own interpretation.
Equally internationally acclaimed, Miyagawa Kozan 1842-1916 was designated Imperial Court Artist in 1896. Kozan originally began producing highly decorative pottery during the early Meiji period, and gradually began researching highly technical glazes and under-glazes as he began producing ceramic vessels. The study of glazes was prevalent in 19th Century Europe, under the influence of Chinese pottery. Kozan was sensitive to the changing trends and was capable of self-expression on a high level. His creative endeavors were broad in scope, including some works that pay homage to the works of Nin Sei. This particular work, a celadon incense burner with decorative lions on pick handles, utilizes highly specialized glazing techniques that exemplify the understated elegance typical
of Kozan’s work.Critically acclaimed as the most accomplished celadon artist of his time, Suwa Sozan (1851-1922) was designated
Imperial Court Artist in 1917. Sozan’s celadon works are noted for his highly specialized glazes and his knowledge of green body, from which he created elegant celadon hues. He was also adept at relief and under-glaze decorative techniques to create crimson fish designs that contrasted beautifully against the elegant character of the celadon.
Sozan also established himself in his original use of carving. This elephant-shaped incense burner is an exemplary expression of Sozan’s skillful techniques.
The designation of Imperial Court Artist, as outlined in “Related Documents” specifies five main directives. Of these, the most important, and first on the list is “To honor the nation’s arts by bridging the past and the present, and by cultivating techniques and skills that will benefit future artists.” It is easy to see how this was important in the Japan of that era. As a recently developed nation-the expectation was that the arts would not only create a favorable national reputation but would also revive industry. In other words, the Imperial Court Artists were given a task by the nation to create works that reflect global trends from a perspective contemporary to their time, and that which has the potential to motivate Japan’s industries; to create superior works that would exemplify Japan’s
production spirit and direction on the national and international stage. We may discuss celadon from the point of view of the artists’ personal vision, or by taking a broader perspective, but we rarely consider the artform through the lens of history and tradition by examining its aesthetics through a social aspect.

Exploring Japanese celadon by establishing a concept of “the traditional”
In discussing the development of Japanese celadon after the emergence of Imperial Court Artists , we must first examine its relationship to the process of establishing a concept of “the traditional.” A concept of “tradition” became prevalent sometime during the middle of the Taisho period (latter half of the 1910s. Celadon began to be seen through a lens of “historicity” and “tradition.” What is “traditional” seems to exist in every age – the reality is that “tradition” is a construct. Discussions of the past legitimize the social status of specific social groups by locating it in the word “traditional,” the first “Japanese Traditional Craft Exhibition” was held, and the nascent concept of “traditional” (here to refer to skills and objects that were once endangered) became prevalently accepted. The Japanese Traditional Craft Exhibition is still held annually, and is the only official government exhibition held in Japan today.
Celadon was not recognized as a traditional skill in this phase of “supportive measures” perhaps because celadon is not a dying art, which is how “traditional” is defined in this case. The superior celadon works of Imperial Court Artists of the Meiji and Taisho periods have already been discussed above. Furthermore, Itaya Hazan, the first of the Imperial Court Artists to be awarded Order of Cultural Merit, was a prolific creator of celadon ware, and in Kyoto’s experimental pottery workshops. Thousands of celadon genres have been the object of research and documentation by the glaze wonderkinder Komori Shinobu as well as Kawai Kanjirō and Hamada Shōji, who played a significant role in the folk art movement, Noguchi Isamu studied under Urano Kenya, there have been a number of famous potters who have produced excellent celadon ware. Obviously, celadon is not on the brink of decline, but rather is a prevalent and popular mode of expression.
The other system “Living National Treasure” was established in 1954 when amending the Cultural Asset Protection Law. The “Support Measures” were removed, and a system of recognizing artistic value was established. In this new system, “traditional” was defined by the two main criteria of historically significant skills and high artistic value – at last celadon was officially recognized as a “traditional” art form.
Two celadon artists who have been designated Living National Treasures are Miura Koheiji (1933-2006) and Nakashima Hiroshi (b.1941). Miura chose themes from the Near East as his subject matter, and established a lyricalstyle using celadon and painting. His work is often referred to as Miura celadon, and is highly valued internationally. Nakashima’s work is known for his elegant style which retains the rigors of Chinese bronze-ware and is influenced by the works from official kilns. Broadly speaking, included in the celadon genre are the iron glazed pottery techniques are Living National Treasure artists Ishiguro Munemaro (1893-1968), Shimizu Uichi (1926-2004), Kiyoshi Hara (1936-). Hara works mainly with iron and persimmon glazes, and so will be omitted from this discussion. Few people know of the celadon works of Ishiguro, who was heavily influenced by temmoku glazing techniques from
China, and applied various pottery Chinese techniques, but this work included in the exhibition shows that he has left behind a tea cup with a heavy ice-cracked, highly translucent glaze. Shimizu worked in a variety of styles throughout his career, and had focused on celadon for some time. His celadon works are noted for their sharp angular form, with hard celadon enamel cracks. Kaiji Tsukamoto (1912-1990), who expanded his expertise from white porcelain to blue and white ceramics, was also awarded a Living National Treasure status. Impacted by Song dynasty porcelain, Tsukamoto created sternly elegant white porcelain and blue and white porcelain, his beautiful carving work on the green clay body transcended the original masters.

As previously described, the system of designation for Living National Treasures and its precursor that included “support measures” differed in their definition of what was deemed “traditional” using historically important techniques and artistic value as criteria. The artistic aspect contains ambiguities, and the possibilities for creativity may become a conscious effort. However, if artists consciously apply artistically significant historical techniques in the process of executing their unique visions and the techniques they gain from that process, this can be perhaps easily understood as a contemporary re-construction.
Okabe’s creative philosophy can be understood from this perspective. With his insight into the contemporary nature of ceramics, he reestablished the aesthetic value and historicity of celadon ware. Okabe’s work gives the impression of imitation or reenactment of ceramic historicity for this reason. It is a manifestation of how techniques reveal their sense of realism when viewed through the lens of “tradition,” and the contemporaneousness is revealed in the relationship between tradition and historicity. When celadon is redefined within the concept of “the traditional,” celadon ware of different eras and styles become a foundational resource material from which the potential of celadon as a medium for expression is significantly expanded. For instance, Suzuki Osamu and Fukami Sueharu are artists who developed their imaginative glaze colors and textures from the foundations of celadon. Suzuki (1926-2001)was a key member of the Sdeisha ceramic craft movement in post-war Japan. Suzuki simplified and extracted the geometry of horses, birds, and clouds, and developed a new world of expression for ceramic design art in the simple shapes of his lyrical and sentimental “Mud Images” series. At the same time, he actively created blue and white porcelain works. Suzuki brings out the textures of the pottery and the saturated hues in the glaze in the sharp stylized designs of his blue and white porcelain works.
Using the glaze color of his blue and white porcelain as symbolism for the seas and skies, he created a narrative theme in his work.
Fukami Sueharu (b.1947) received the Grand Prize in the Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Faenza in 1985, and is a Japanese ceramicist active on the international stage. Fukami works with translucent bluish-white porcelain to create delicately detailed wheel thrown vessels and designs made by high-pressure slipcasting techniques.
From the titles of his works “Space” and “Distant View (Signe)”, one can see that the form and glaze color of the vessels come from the same vision. Fukami’s works are all quite simple in form, conjuring grand imagery using abstract gestures.
Following the brief introduction of the works of Suzuki and Fukami above, we come to the work of contemporary Japanese celadon artist Kawase Shinobu (b.1950). Kawase is a ceramicist with over 40 years of experience, whose work is noted for their delicate glaze color and sharp yet soothing characteristics. There are anecdotes of Kawase being so enamored with Song dynasty ceramics at the beginning of his career that he spent long hours at the National Palace Museum so that he could compare his own work with the works in the Museum. Kawase’s work made a departure from this early obsession and he found inspiration in plants for their balance despite a lack of symmetry. He began exploring vital and organic designs. Kawase established a technique for firing still-wet clay to preserve the vitality in the clay, and added clear glaze colors to create his celadon. From these we get a glimpse of how contemporary celadon find expression from a consciousness of its relationship with tradition.