Komura rice
I would like to introduce Mr. Kihan Komura's pottery.
First of all, please take a look at what happened when I visited Mr. Komura's workshop.
Mr. Furumura's studio is located near Niraikanai Bridge in Nanjo City in the southern part of the main island of Okinawa, and the blue sea and Kudaka Island can be seen from the window of the studio. Mr. Furumura's studio is located in a long, narrow one-story house that used to be a poultry farm. In the wild grass garden, there is a large kiln and workshop for making pottery clay. There is a spring near the workshop, and there are scampis in the water, and there are also giant crocodiles growing on the side of the waterway. It's not far from Kakinohanahikawa River, which was selected as one of the 100 most famous waters in Japan, so the spring water here must be of good quality.
Mr. Komura's kiln is an old-style anagama kiln. The anagama kiln has a firing chamber where the work is baked and a combustion chamber where the fuel (firewood) is burned. is characterized by being seen.
Most of the firewood used as fuel is sticking to Ryukyu pine. Burning Ryukyu pine for about 6 days. Alone. This really surprises me.
It is made by blending the soil of the southern part of the main island of Okinawa, called Jagar, Marge, Kucha, and Neibi.
Mr. Furumura's vessels are wide-ranging, such as everyday vessels, aging bottles, fermentation jars, flower vases, matcha bowls, and sake cups.
Mr. Furumura's pottery is unglazed pottery called Arayachi, also known as Nanban. It is generally called yakishime.
The characteristic of Nanban is that it is pottery with heat retention. Even if you put hot things in it, it will continue to feel warm and cool. And the other is the fine holes on the surface of the pottery. The ingredients of the soil are mixed with the ingredients, making the taste mellow and excellent in preservability and aging. There is a reason why it has been used for sake jars, soy sauce and miso jars for a long time. Even today, rough-baked sake jars are always used to age awamori.
The food that was served to me when I visited the studio and Mr. Furumura's vessel.
The Okinawan traditional dish Suchika (salted pork belly), which is made by letting it sit in a fermented jar for three weeks, was so exquisite that it shocked me the moment I put it in my mouth.
The expression of Mr. Furumura's pottery, which does not use glaze, is the clay itself. The ingredients look great.
Finally, please take a look at Mr. Komura's vessels that have arrived at our store.
We have flower vases, sake bottles, and cups in stock. The sake bottle can also be used as a vase.
We couldn't introduce it this time, but we also have new flowerpots and wall-mounted flower vases in stock. I hope to be able to introduce this at a later date.
Mr. Komura fires his kiln twice a year. Since it is an anagama kiln, the amount that can be made at one time is limited. Even if you search nationwide, there are only 2 stores that carry it. "Mingei Okumura" and "SOUTH BRIDGE".
Each piece has its own unique expression, so please take a closer look.