Itaya Hazan

Ceramicist. Born in Shimodate Town, Ibaraki Prefecture (now Chikusei City). His real name was Kasshichi. He initially aspired to be a sculptor and entered the sculpture department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts at the age of 17. After graduating, he was assigned to teach ceramics at Ishikawa Prefectural Technical School, where he began to seriously study ceramics. At the age of 32, he built a kiln in Tabata, Kita Ward, Tokyo, and named it Hazan after his hometown's Mount Tsukuba. As a sculpture graduate, he was a master craftsman who was committed to perfectionism, devoting all his energy to completing each piece from molding to decoration, and he also intended to create original decorative methods centered on glazes from an early age. He developed his own unique Hokouyu glaze and created an unprecedented aesthetic world in which highly refined vessel shapes and patterns were enveloped in a dreamlike melody. In 1953 (Showa 28), at the age of 81, he became the first potter to receive the Order of Culture.

[Yoshiaki Yabe]

Edited and commented by Seizo Hayashiya, "Complete Collection of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics 1: Hazan Itaya" (1980, Shueisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

陶芸家。茨城県下館(しもだて)町（現筑西(ちくせい)市）に生まれる。本名は嘉七。初め彫刻家を志し、17歳のとき東京美術学校彫刻科に入学。卒業後赴任した石川県工業学校で陶磁科を担当したことから本格的に製陶を研究し始め、32歳のとき東京都北区田端(たばた)に窯をおこし、故郷の筑波山にちなんで波山と号した。彫刻科出身者らしく、成形から加飾まで全力を傾注して一作を仕上げていく完璧(かんぺき)主義を貫いた技巧派の巨匠で、また釉薬(ゆうやく)を中心とする加飾法の独創も早くから意図したところであった。作風が確立するのは40歳ごろからで、独自の葆光釉(ほうこうゆう)を開発し、完成度の高い器形や文様を夢幻的調べで包むという未曽有(みぞう)の美的世界をつくりあげた。1953年（昭和28）81歳で陶芸家としては初の文化勲章を受けた。

［矢部良明］

『林屋晴三編集・解説『現代日本陶芸全集1　板谷波山』（1980・集英社）』

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