Kawai Kanjirō

Kawai Kanjirō was a Kyoto-based potter working within the folk tradition of Japanese and Korean ceramics. He was a long-time friend of Hamada, Yanagi, and Leach with whom he co-founded the Japan Folk Art Association in 1926. Although in Japan Kawai Kanjirō is just as celebrated as Hamada Shōji and Kitaōji Rosanjin, he is relatively neglected in the West. Unlike his rivals, Kawai refused all official honors, such as the designation of “Living National Treasures,” and did not travel to the West. By the mid-1930s, Kawai developed a slab-molding technique to create beveled bowls and tiered boxes. The forms of his later pieces became multifaceted and more sculptural. As a master of the glaze technique, Kawai developed new decorative styles in the 1960s, employing splotches of bright colors. His slab-molded boxes with lids, as well as vases, are especially admired. Kawai often decorated his works with bold, semiabstract blossom motifs, which he painted freely in under-glaze cobalt blue, iron brown, and copper red.

1890 Born in Yasugi, but spent most of his adult life in Kyoto
1910 Graduated from Matsue Junior High School
1911 Impressed by an exhibition of Barnard Leach, introduced himself to Leach
1914 Graduated from Tokyo Industrial High School (current Tokyo Industrial University) with Itaya Hazan, came to know fellow student Hamada Shoji, started to work for Kyoto City Ceramic Laboratory
1917 Resigned from Laboratory and began research on 10,000 glaze tests with Shimizu Rokubei
1919 With Hamada, traveled to Korea and Manchuria, collecting and studying ceramics and folk art
1920 Built his own kiln and established a workshop at Gojozaka, Kyoto
1926 Visited the monasteries on Mt. Koya. Became founding member of Japan Folk Art Association with Hamada Shoji, Yanagi Muneyoshi, and Tomomoto Kenkichi
1931 Participated to start art magazine, "Kôgei"
Instructed craftsmen with Yanagi in Matsue
1936-37 With Hamada and Yanagi, traveled throughout Korea
1937 Became director of Japan Craft Museum, Tokyo
1942-45 Stopped potting to concentrate on writing
After 1945 Began creating non-functional plaques and sculptures
1960s Developed new decorative styles capitalizing on splotches of red and orange with an abstract expressionist flavor

Awards:

1917 The 5th Nôten Exhibition Prize
1937 Grand Prize, World Exposition, Paris
1956 Grand Prize, Milan Triennale