Being a Pottery Apprentice in Japan

[@MelanaC]

What a wonderful video. Beautifully filmed and wonderfully narrated by Suzanne. What an exhilarating experience 😊

[@meishitan5042]

Wait a minute, why are there only 74 views? This is such an interesting topic re an opportunity mostly closed to foreigners, and there is such high production value....! I can't be the only one that searches Japanese pottery apprenticeship on KZbin??

[@simatai33]

LOL, I'm not so great at promoting myself. I created this channel last year so this is a fairly new post. It was originally published on Hawaiian Skies (it was made for in-flight programming) for Hawaiian Airlines...so it got a lot of views there! Thank you for watching :)

[@DunoonVanRijn-dx1hr]

I have always loved natural beauty and colours. This is my connection to my environment.

[@amyquyen]

An AMAZING short film. Thank you for sharing!

[@daled8221]

Thank you so much for this video, there's so much truth & feeling in it! There is nothing like cone 10+!!!

[@hewwoitssam1203]

lovely video! thank you for posting it.

[@Sapiewithwithpeas]

What an incredible movie, and story! This deserves to reach more viewers, and I hope you find your audience!

[@DunoonVanRijn-dx1hr]

Thank you for sharing your story

[@mariadelacruzrodriguezpala8610]

wondefull! Thank you!!!

[@travismaxwell9805]

I can’t even trade wedging labor for 1 on 1 training where I am located and at my skill level. They have to always be making pots. The thing about learning pottery is it takes time. I don’t know anyone that took a one night a week class for 6 weeks and came out throwing 12 inch tall, 1 pound(about 450 grams) cylinders. Even if you have natural skill, you can’t mentally process everything you have to be doing when throwing properly. I am glad you got to do this.

[@suzannewangceramics3280]

So true. It really takes years and years! I am still learning :) And throwing is just the beginning of getting to know clay and your relationship with the material. Just keep practicing and observing...sometimes the slower way is deeper training.

[@joachimsingh2929]

My father died only a few days ago. The only good thing about his cancer was that I got closer to him.

[@alecpydde3726]

Thank you, this was a very well made video! If you dont mind me asking, you mentioned that you were not allowed to help him with any of his work. Were you able to actually make any of your own pottery, and throw on a wheel?

[@suzannewangceramics3280]

When this video was made, I had only been there a month. I was actually able to make some work of his from press molds, using slabs of clay. I wasn't able to throw any of his work because my throwing skills were not good enough at that time. I was able to make my own work near the end of my apprenticeship, and I made a body of work that was thrown and handbuilt from slabs and coils. These were presented at an exhibition at the end of my one year apprenticeship.

[@alecpydde3726]

Oh ok, thank you.

[@kevinleong4467]

Do you speak Japanese? This seems amazing. I have been doing ceramics for 8 years and I really want to do an apprenticeship in Japan. I don’t speak Japanese but love going to Japan and would like to learn Japanese and how they do ceramics.

[@suzannewangceramics3280]

I don't speak Japanese, which made this experience more challenging. But I did learn the basics while I was there. Maybe 30-50 words. It would be very beneficial to learn some conversational Japanese and pottery terminology if you want to travel there to study ceramics!

[@ROVS-JC-7]

Being a crafts man, pottery is only one thing have never tried.

[@urabagofcells2228]

Lovely video! Sooo many questions, how good was your japanese when you first started? How much pottery did you do before approaching Matsuzaki to apprentice? Did you just casually ask, or did you show your portfolio and explain yourself?

[@suzannewangceramics3280]

I barely knew any Japanese and was studying the language online. It was difficult to learn Japanese while apprenticing because we did not talk too much during work, and I had very little to practice it in conversations on my day off. I had been doing pottery for a couple years prior to my apprenticeship, but was very amateur. The application and portfolio process was rigorous. It took over a year, with lots of vetting. I also traveled to Japan to visit him prior to my acceptance.

[@simatai33]

I didn’t speak hardly any Japanese when I started and learned very little while I was there because we didn’t talk a lot in the studio. The lengthy process of getting my apprenticeship took about a year, in order to get the visa, and I made sure to travel to Japan first and visit his studio before I was accepted. It was a major commitment for both student and teacher:)

[@Sudokud]

This how booo want to live ❤️

[@Angel_leah005]

I want to be able to do this so bad but I have no idea how.

[@ravichandel8690]

I wanted to know how can from india i can apply for apprentiship

[@steve4nj]

I am supposed to go to Tajimi to study pottery so this video is great! How did you manage to get an apprenticeship?

[@suzannewangceramics3280]

It was a long process! I recommend reading John Baymore's advice on studying ceramics in Japan. See: community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/1268-advice-on-studying-ceramics-in-japan/

[@malcolmcooke2024]

Pottery the art of waiting you make the piece wait then finish it wait again until ready for the firing load kiln wait fire wait for cooling and then get to see the result. No other art for is like this can be months between the concept and the result in the hand it it my be a failure in the kiln.

[@suzannewangceramics3280]

So true! That process can be nerve wracking but also is such a wonderful teacher on patience and perseverance.

[@StuninRub]

Probably would have learned more to use your Chinese connections to learn from the potters in Jing De Zhen. Your average 14 to 20 year old thrower will probably have better technical skills than this guy. An instructor / master there will have over 30 years of experience before they hit 50 and the training experience will be a lot more practical as opposed to doing the instructor's chores.

[@suzannewangceramics3280]

Funny you should mention that, because I am going to Jingdezhen in Sept for an artist residency at JCUIS :) What I learned in Mashiko was so profoundly different from my life in the States. It greatly impacted on my life and my approach towards ceramics. I did not excel in technical skills, but the experience improved my discipline and deepened my understanding of the craft in a very fundamental way. Super excited to see the contrast between the Chinese and Japanese approach towards clay!

[@StuninRub]

@suzannewangceramics3280 Congratulations! I think you will find it to be a very enlightening experience. If you have never been there before, certain parts of the city (although tourist-sy) will have small work shops littered everywhere, and all of them are able to move clay on a world class level. Definitely befriend some of them if possible.

[@ruthnoronha8206]

It’s not for everyone. It sounds oppressive