Shima Workshop
In Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture, where Bizen ware, one of Japan's oldest pottery styles, has a history spanning a thousand years, Shima Kobo quietly thrives. Bizen ware, fired solely with earth and flame without glaze, is counted among Japan's Six Ancient Kilns and is considered the "most primitive pottery." The sesame seeds, hidasuki (scarlet cords), botan-mochi (peony rice cakes), and scorch marks that emerge during firing are all products of natural phenomena, and no two patterns are ever identical. This unique expression, woven from chance and inevitability, is the greatest charm of Bizen ware and the reason it has captivated people for over a millennium.
Yukihiro Shima, the founder of Shima Kobo, is a unique ceramic artist who, after years of corporate work, suddenly plunged into the world of pottery. He cultivated his skills and sensibilities by studying Karatsu ware and Arita ware, and eventually, drawn by the power of Bizen clay, relocated to this region. Yukihiro, recognized as a traditional craftsman after rigorous training, imbues his works with a unique power that maximizes the potential of Bizen clay. His vases, in particular, are highly praised for their compositional strength, which three-dimensionally brings together the landscapes created by earth and flame, embodying the "essential beauty" of Bizen ware.
What Shima Kobo values is an attitude of not pursuing decorative techniques, but rather entrusting the power of earth and fire directly to the vessels. Bizen clay grows stronger the more it is fired, and its expression deepens with daily use. The fact that it matures with the user's life and allows one to enjoy the beauty of aging is why Bizen ware has been cherished as a craft for daily life since ancient times.
Currently, the core of the studio is run by Yukihiro's son, Daisuke Shima. Building on the spirit inherited from his father, he pursues the creation of simpler vessels that resonate with contemporary lifestyles. His forms are neat and uncluttered, with a soft feel that fits comfortably in the hand, and an appearance that fully utilizes the breathing of the clay. He can be said to be an artist who translates the "quiet strength" inherent in Bizen ware into a more everyday scale.
The mother, who supports the studio, also possesses a keen aesthetic sense as a maker. While the works of the three each have their own individuality, they are all underpinned by a single core principle: "reverence for Bizen clay." Believing in the earth, entrusting to the fire, and sending out the vessels—this purity gives the works of Shima Kobo their dignified beauty.
Shima Kobo's Bizen ware are vessels that seek "essence" rather than ornamentation.
Nature becomes the maker, the earth speaks, and the fire paints landscapes that are received as they are, slowly maturing within daily life.
Inheriting the spirit of a thousand years of Bizen ware while evolving with the sensibilities of the next generation—
Shima Kobo continues to create unique Bizen ware through its quiet progress.
