ABOUT
Company History
Influenced by the golden age of Nordic design, Seto began to be host to many workshops using the casting method in the 1960s. The founder of Kashiwa Craft, Hisayuki Iwatsuki, started running the company in Hora district of Seto in 1965. Seto was already known for its white porcelain promotional giveaway products, so Hisayuki's workshop started creating products such as figurines with animal motifs, featuring subtle warping of the red clay used and color variation of glazes that reduction firing produces
–OEM collaborations with famous designers
Kashiwa Craft's products eventually drew the attention of a Nagoya trading company, boosting the company's number of orders for export, especially to the U.S. West Coast and Northern Europe. After the Plaza Accord, when the Japanese yen appreciated rapidly, many kilns went out of business. However, Kashiwa Craft shifted its focus to domestic business using its signature casting method, and was able to continue the business. The company also engaged in OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) collaborations with young designers and renowned companies, allowing it to maintain small-scale, end-to-end production, and unwavering commitment to quality.
–Our best feature
In 2006, Hisato Iwatsuki became the second company president. He continued the tradition of using a special blend of red clay and glaze, the casting method, and reduction firing. With the focus on developing deformed animal ornaments and flower vases, Kashiwa Craft has achieved a reputation for its complex relief designs, and it continues to introduce updates for these.
Craftsmanship Philosophy
–Our originality
Kashiwa Craft's brand identity rests on three main pillars: casting method, the variety of clay used, and the glaze. This complex casting method, requiring a variety of crafting skills, is made possible by using our unique clay and glazes.
The clay used at Kashiwa Craft is soft and slowly warps as it matures. This formulation was achieved through extensive experimentation by the company founders and the glazes and techniques have been maintained since then. This subtle warping over time creates a naturalness and warmth similar to freehand lines.
Kashiwa Craft's glazes are designed to produce variations during the firing process. Even items fired in the same kiln can express differently due to variation in the flame exposure used. The compatibility of red clay and glaze results in a unique texture, with a matte feel and intermediate colors. The combination of clay and glaze is the key to Kashiwa Craft's uniqueness. Variations in firing, color, and warping are what make Kashiwa Craft special.
–The beauty of aging alteration
While preserving the traditional methods, the company's current leadership is also working on new designs and reviving designs from the company's early days. What was once new and fresh loses its spark with time, and old designs can feel new again. The company strives at creating, nurturing and preserving this beauty found in the aging process itself in their pottery.
Designs that find expression only
in the red clay and glaze of
Kashiwa Craft
Kashiwa Craft, established in 1965 in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture.
During the golden age of Scandinavian design, a group of young potters from Seto who were influenced by this style, some young people from Seto started a workshop for small-batch pottery production using the casting method. One of the artists, Hisayuki Iwatsuki, was strongly influenced by the Finnish designer Kaj Franck.
–This complex technique requires a variety of crafting skills
The casting method, which is central to Kashiwa Craft's creation, involves forming a prototype from clay and gypsum, which is then subject to processing in three stages before the production mold is finally completed. This complex technique requires a variety of crafting skills. The clay mixture used at Kashiwa Craft is soft and slowly warps into final form during production. It contains as a base the red clay native to the Seto area. This unique blend developed by the company founders yields a final product offers a pleasant irregularity in the freehand-like lines resulting from the natural warping of clay over time. Our unique glaze, developed over approximately two years, is designed to highlight relief patterns when exposed to uneven firing and browning. Its distinct character is the result of the interaction between the red clay and the glaze resulting in an array of intermediate colors on a matte texture that exude a pleasant warmth. Every time the kiln is burned, each item has a different look because of the way the kiln flames are applied, as well as differences in temperature and humidity, including those brought on by the season in which it is made.
–We consider one of our key strengths
The special blend of red clay and glaze is the key of Kashiwa Craft's production method and the firing variations and warping characteristics enhance the uniqueness of our products, which we consider one of our key strengths and the source of our appeal.
While maintaining our production tradition with the same raw materials and techniques used since our foundation, the company is also committed to new designs and reissue designs. We strive to nurture, create, and preserve the beauty of the aging process itself in our wares.
The Spirit of Craftsmanship
Passed Down through
Kashiwa Craft
–Heart loves and continues to make the same stuff for a long time
The establishment of Kashiwa Craft can be said to trace back to the ambitions of the company founder, Hisayuki Iwatsuki, who moved to Seto to become a ceramic artist. Hisayuki started his career by working for an overseas promotional giveaway products manufacturer and learned the basics of prototype craftsmanship.
At the age of 26, he went independent and established his own workshop in Hora district, Seto. It was a period heavily influenced by Scandinavian design, with numerous workshops specializing in small-batch pottery production using the emerging casting method being established. Seto was already known for white porcelain promotional giveaway products, so Hisayuki set his sights on creating them using the Seto’s characteristic red clay with its natural warping and glazes that change in the kiln through reduction firing. He never relented in his search for the optimum blend of clay and glaze to be able to realize the ideal forms etc., he was aspiring to.
Subsequently, Hisayuki's work caught the attention of certain trading companies, leading to a rapid increase in exports to the American West Coast and Europe. The sensibility developed in the process of creation and design for export, in other words that of cultural cross-pollination and Japanese - Western fusion in design, continues to inspire the pottery field today.
Then, with the signing of the Plaza Accord and the bubble economy of the late 80's, domestic demand for Kashiwa Craft's wares underwent significant changes. However, Hisayuki, not swayed by fleeting trends, remained committed to his own style that was informed by the European sentiment of cherishing the things you have, which in pottery for him translated to continuing to produce the same works or types of works for as long as possible.
–Craftsman's handiwork
In 2006, Hisayuki's son, Hisato, became the second company president. He continued the tradition of blending red clay and glaze, the casting method, and reduction, but with a background in interior design, Hisato sought to create clay objects that blend into living spaces like architectural structures in the city. He developed new works, including deformed animal ornaments and flower vases.
Using gypsum molds, Kashiwa Craft is capable of complex repetitive manu-facturing while still maintaining an emphasis on hand-craftsmanship in this digital age. We create our wares in the spirit of the European tradition of cherishing your belongings by continuing to use them as long as possible, in other words, our products are intended to be kept long enough to be able to enjoy seeing the changes to them over time. We hope that in decorating your living space with our waresthey become like companions to you in your daily life.
Seto - Japan's Pottery Capital
— Seto-city —
Seto, a city located in Aichi Prefecture, is considered home to one of the Six Ancient Kilns in Japan. This expression is a collective term that refers to Japan’ s six distinguished kilns of Echizen, Seto, Tokoname, Shigaraki, Tamba and Bizen.These kilns have produced pottery from medieval times to the present day. The term was first coined in 1948, with the kilns receiving official recognition as Japan Heritage sites in 2017.
— Seto-Yaki —
"Seto-Yaki" refers collectively to ceramics produced primarily in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture over the past 1,000 years. Seto has long been a leading force in the pottery industry in Japan, so much so that the generic word for ceramics in Japanese is "setomono". In addition to being considered Japan's pottery capi-tal, Seto now has a place on the global stage as it is increasingly recognized internationally for its thriving pottery and ceramics industry.
Kamagaki no Komichi
- Born from the Wisdom of the People
— Hora District (Origin of the name " Kashiwa Craft ") —
The Hora district was once densely populated with numerous pottery workshops, including Kashiwa Craft, but now only a few remain. Behind the workshops, large oak and holm oak trees thrive, and in autumn, acorns fall to the ground. Many children joyfully collect and put in their pockets. It is from these acorns that the name "Kashiwa", meaning oak, was bestowed upon the kiln.
— Kamagaki no Komichi —
In Hora district, discarded materials from pottery tools like "tsuku" and "engoro", which are used in kiln firing, were used to build stone walls. This narrow, approximately 400-meter-long lane, known to this day as “Kamagaki no Komichi", showcases the local affection for pottery making and is a unique sight found only in Seto in Japan.
What is casting method??
We employ a process so-called casting method.
The reason why casting method is used is that it is easy to produce the same product in large quantities.
Our Craft
Hisayuki Iwatsuki - 岩附壽之
Hisato Iwatsuki - 岩附寿人
Company Appearance-工房外観