In Hashima City, Gifu Prefecture, there is a studio where they carve and fire stones, bending them to create bowls and other vessels. Its name is "Ishiyamanin Kobo" (Stone Mountain Man Studio). For over 60 years since the first generation began working with stone, this unique technique has been passed down to the second generation and continues to evolve into a realm no one has yet explored. We delve into the passion that defies logic, as they relentlessly forge ahead on a "dark path" where no one knows the right answer.
Takashi Miwa, Second Generation Ishiyamanin
Takashi Miwa is the second-generation potter of "Ishiyamanin Kobo," who creates vessels from fire and stone. Since 2015, he has studied under Shoichiro, the first-generation Ishiyamanin and a contemporary master craftsman who received the Yellow Ribbon Medal of Honor, and has taken over as the second generation. Based in Hashima City, Gifu Prefecture, he creates stone vessels such as matcha bowls, sake cups, and flower vases using a unique technique of carving and shaping igneous rocks selected from natural magnetic rocks, followed by high-temperature firing. He has held solo exhibitions and displays at places such as Tofuku-ji Temple sub-temple Komyoin, Ginza Mitsukoshi, and the Palace Hotel Tokyo.
(※Article content is based on information at the time of interview)
#1 Crafting Vessels by Carving, Melting, and Bending Stone to its Limits
The second generation inherits a unique technique and evolves it further
──Please tell us about "Ishiyamanin's stone vessel making."
We carve igneous rock, which is rock formed by magma cooling and solidifying over a long period, into the shape of a vessel and fire it. While people often imagine vessels and pottery being made from clay, stone has entirely different properties from clay. It doesn't shrink when fired, and if anything, it's closer to glass than clay.
Placing a stone in a kiln, firing it, softening it, and then bending it is a unique technique of Ishiyamanin Kobo. However, once it reaches its melting point, it collapses instantly. For me, I want to maintain the shape but melt the surface. So, I place stones to hold it down while firing.
──How do you achieve this glossy texture?
People often say, "You've applied a good glaze," but actually, we don't use any glaze. It's 100% stone. The glaze-like luster comes from the silica, or glass content, within the stone overflowing and creating the shine.
──How do you select the raw stones?
I walk around looking at large boulders, some as big as 5-6 meters, and ask a stonemason to cut those I think are suitable. Stones have what are called "stone grains," like tree rings, and the type of vessel suited to a stone varies depending on its type and grain. We have several series of vessels, and I think it's best to choose stones that seem to want to become a particular type of vessel and then split them accordingly.
──How much do you split and carve the stones?
For example, this stone will become a matcha bowl called "Bankaka." It currently weighs about 6kg, but it will eventually be reduced to about 400g.
──What!? You carve away most of it?
Yes, the idea is to leave only the core, so over 90% is carved away. Since I became independent, I haven't been bound by my master's methods, but have sought and found optimal techniques for myself.
──That's amazing!
The vessel that takes the longest to create is called "Ku" (emptiness). We use a lathe to carve out a hole, but we can only carve up to about 1cm, which is 3-4 times thicker than the final finish.
After that, I manually grind and polish it with whetstones until it reaches the stone's limit of 2-3mm. That takes hundreds of hours... I spend more than 20 days a month polishing it. This is my special "Ku." Isn't this red amazing?
#2 Empty Your Mind. All Answers Lie Within the Stone
Dedicated to the potential of stone precisely because the finished form is unknown.
──Ishiyamanin's work includes several series. Could you tell us about "Ku" within those?
When splitting a stone, "I want to do this," or "I want to do that," always emerges. When I strike the chisel with such thoughts, I usually fail.
Indeed, stones often split along their natural grain, as if they want to. Of course, I read the grain, but the more I intentionally intervene after reading it, the more I feel like I deviate from what the stone truly wants to become.
──I had never thought that stones have a desired form.
That's why it's better to intentionally discard oneself and strike the chisel at the stone with an empty heart. This is what Master Koin Takada of Yakushiji Temple called the "empty mind"—a mind without bias, without attachment, without being caught. It's called "Ku" in the sense that how a craftsman finishes the stone that split as it wanted, by striking it with a selfless mind, is where their skill is demonstrated, akin to Zen Buddhist practice.
──What is the name of the vessel you were trying to make with the stone feet attached earlier?
It's a matcha bowl called "Zen-ZEN-" made by repeatedly striking it with a chisel. It takes about 20,000 strikes to make one. After striking continuously for 1-2 hours, all sounds except the striking sound gradually fade away, and my field of vision narrows significantly. Essentially, it's a feeling of immersing oneself in a state of selflessness, where one gradually loses oneself. That's why I named it after the practice of Zen Buddhism.
──How do you determine the number of firings and the finished quality during the firing process?
It's luck. I can't predict the final form, nor what colors will emerge. Even if I know red will appear after firing, what kind of red is an unknown. Even from the same origin, the color changes if the age or components differ. The same goes for differences in firing temperature.
Then there's how much I can commit to it. It might contradict the "empty mind" idea, but with the "Ku" I just showed, when that red color suddenly appeared and I thought, "Ah, this is it," I stopped at that moment.
This vessel turned black at around 1100°C, and I thought, "Let's push it one step further," so I kept firing it. Of course, I was risking collapse, and I even thought, "Oh no!" when cracks appeared, but I wanted to go beyond that. Then, the molten stone naturally filled the cracks.
──That's amazing. You also mentioned carving it to the absolute limit earlier. Do you ever carve too much and create holes?
Yes, it happens. I used to discard them, but then I realized that a stone, formed by an eruption and solidifying billions of years ago, eventually finds its way to me. I consider it a gift from Earth. It's a fragment of Earth, and I don't want to just discard it because it has a hole. So, branching out from the technique of bending stone, I developed a method to fill it with magma.
──You can even do that.
When you master bending and melting stone, many things become clear. Cracks that I once tried to erase can now be embraced or filled, leading to new techniques. I believe that's the unique touch of the second-generation Ishiyamanin.
