Retro Japan: Striking Ceramics Research Institute passes down art of Tokoname ware

July 30, 2023 (Mainichi Japan)

Japanese version

TOKONAME, Aichi -- The Ceramics Research Institute building here is hard to miss, as it uses some 3.5 million mosaic tiles in purple gradations for the exterior, all of it a proud statement of its purpose: to pass down the art of the local Tokoname ceramic ware.

The main building, formerly the municipal pottery research center, is in Tokoname Ceramics Forest. Japanese architectural elements can be seen in the large overhanging roof eaves, terraces and exposed pillars and beams.

Chozaburo Ina (1890-1980), the founder of ceramics firm Ina Seito Co. (present-day Lixil Corp.) and the first mayor of Tokoname, donated his company's shares to the city to fund Tokoname ware research and training. The building, completed in 1961, is one product of that donation.

It is a reinforced concrete structure with one basement floor and two stories above ground. It was designed by Sutemi Horiguchi, one of Japan's leading modern architects and a well-known researcher of tea ceremony rooms. The building houses one of these plus another Japanese-style room, both used for ceramic art research through Japanese tea ceremony and flower arrangement. Part of the roof, meanwhile, is a complex of angled eaves and glass block windows that let in sunlight from four directions, producing a soft illumination in the exhibition room -- just one of Horiguchi's special design features.

Training continues at the institute, creating new values while passing on the techniques and expressions of Tokoname ware.

(Japanese original by Koji Hyodo, Nagoya Photo Group)

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The Japanese version of this article was originally published on July 2, 2023.

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