Ritsumeikan Traditional Art Course: Ceramics

Now that I am finished with most of my exams for the semester I´ve decided to write some short blogposts about the traditional art courses I have taken at Ritumeikan this semester; ceramics and calligraphy.

陶芸

Out of all the courses I took this semester, the class in ceramics was by far the one I enjoyed the most. It was relaxing and fun, and at the same time we got to make really nice and unique objects which we could take with us home once they were finished.

The location of the ceramics classes was in Fujihara Togei Studio (藤平陶芸) close to Kiyomizudera, and it takes more or less an hour to get there by bike from Ritsumeikan. (If you look at it in a positive way it is an easy way to get to do some extra exercise every Saturday morning! Haha..)

In the class we got to make among others a tea-set, Japanese Chawan/茶碗 (a special tea cup style) and for one of the objects you choose what to make yourself.

The classes were varied; we learned to make the objects from the bottom and the result was surprisingly good! (Might have been because our teacher saved us every time things seemed to go out of hand)

And besides just the ordinary classes, we also had the chance to participate in a tea ceremony, which were held in a really traditional Japanese house. This was a great experience as well!

A picture of some of the objects we made. At this stage they had just been burned, which you can tell by looking at the color.

In the last class we got to see their original ceramics studio.

Me and my fellow students from the ceramics class gathered at the old Fujihara studio.

The last class we also had a small tea cermony with our teacher and the wife of the owner of the studio, where we drank tea using the Chawan we had made ourselves.

So finally a summarize of the ceramics class:

+ The teacher is great! He is really helpful and engaged in his work.

+ If you are on the verge of destroying your ceramics projects, sensei is always there to help.

+ You get to keep the things you make.

+ The classes are varied, so it never gets boring.

+ You get to try out traditional Japanese tea ceremonies as well.

+ It is easy credits.

+ It is simply FUN!

- The price. Yeah, it is a bit expensive. On the other hand, taking this course through Ritsumeikan is much cheaper than to go to the studio as a private person.

- It is a bit far from school, since the studio is situated close to Kiyomizudera.

- The classes are held on Saturdays in the morning. Do I have to say more?

Anyway, I have no doubt in my mind when I say that this class was great. It was absolutely worth both my money and my Saturday mornings.

I chose to make a flower vase as my 自由作品.

My finished tea cup

The entrance to the ceramics studio

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below
Anette

Related blogposts

• All blogposts from Ritsumeikan
• All my blogposts about Japanese Culture Classes offered by Ritsumeikan:
  Wagashi (confectionery) (spring semester)
  Calligraphy (autumn semester
  Ceramics (autumn semester)
  Ikebana (flower arrangement) (spring semester)

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.