I was born and raised during the post-war decades of the Showa Era, an age of laughter, tears, some anger, and the naive happiness of children whose youth is untarnished by memories of World War II. When my mind's eye travels back to this period, I see a lost, tearful, child escorted home by a police officer after an excitement-filled afternoon watching TV near the train station. (Rikidozan, a famous professional wrestler of the period, was the day's attraction.) My assumption of the name Koraizaemon XII - and of the 400 years of unbroken history it represents - coincided with the final year of this era.
The Saka Family of pottery was inaugurated in the early years of the Edo Period, and has continued for eleven generations. The seven diagonal kilns that are the mainstay of the Family have preserved its method and tradition against major loses of style.
Although I was priviledged to study Japanese painting - and, as a consequence, the aesthetic sensibility of Japanese art - my youth was spent in the urban environment of a modern Japanese city. My first encounter with the nature-enriched Hagiyaki style of teaware occurred on the day astronauts' boots crushed the clay-like soil of the moon - a triumph of realizm that obliterated my childhood image of its traditional inhabitant, the ricecake-pounding rabbit. The TV sets that beamed these footprints to earth now fit in one's pocket. Grappling with clay, the medium of my work, this fact still never ceases to fill me with wonder. Time has changed.
As this millenium draws to a close, my imagination is eager to explore new fields, impatient to discover uncharted realms. I await ongoing help and advice of all friends, colleagues and mentors.
- Saka Kouraizaemon XII
