Hokujo Teaware

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Bok
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:22 am

Artistic Nippon or Isobe should have some, no?
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pedant
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:29 am

ask Asako ISOBE if she has any nanban ones. treat yourself ;)
AozoraE
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:40 am

Bok wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:22 am
Artistic Nippon or Isobe should have some, no?
AN only really has one or two large pots up right now and only one is made out of his signature clay. From what I‘ve been told(not by AN) Hokujo is moving away from his standard yakishime pots and now is focusing solely on making more expensive ‘one-off’ pots. A saw a few of them a few weeks ago. Both were priced at nearly $900. A bit over my budget unfortunately :lol:
AozoraE
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:41 am

pedant wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:29 am
ask Asako ISOBE if she has any nanban ones. treat yourself ;)
If only I could go back in time... :D
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Bok
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:21 am

AozoraE wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:40 am
Bok wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:22 am
Artistic Nippon or Isobe should have some, no?
AN only really has one or two large pots up right now and only one is made out of his signature clay. From what I‘ve been told(not by AN) Hokujo is moving away from his standard yakishime pots and now is focusing solely on making more expensive ‘one-off’ pots. A saw a few of them a few weeks ago. Both were priced at nearly $900. A bit over my budget unfortunately :lol:
Good to hear that he is doing something different now... as much as I like his pots, they all look a bit too much alike after a while. Guess not much more room for improvement, so better move on.
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lUKAV28
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:49 am

Takeyoshi from http://www.tokoname.or.jp/teapot/maker_profile/hokujo/ might have some pieces. I bought few Hokujo pieces from him. What was not available he restocked for me. Good luck.
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LeoFox
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:39 am

AozoraE wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:03 am
Does anyone happen to have a Hokujo that they would be willing to part with? I accidentally broke the inner wall of mine trying to add more holes in one of his older slow pouring direct hole pots :( Any one of his side-handle pots around 150ml+ I think would be ideal for me since I would only be using sencha with it really.
https://www.houseoftea.se/tokoname-hoku ... anguage=en
AozoraE
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:45 am

Bok wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:21 am
AozoraE wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:40 am
Bok wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:22 am
Artistic Nippon or Isobe should have some, no?
AN only really has one or two large pots up right now and only one is made out of his signature clay. From what I‘ve been told(not by AN) Hokujo is moving away from his standard yakishime pots and now is focusing solely on making more expensive ‘one-off’ pots. A saw a few of them a few weeks ago. Both were priced at nearly $900. A bit over my budget unfortunately :lol:
Good to hear that he is doing something different now... as much as I like his pots, they all look a bit too much alike after a while. Guess not much more room for improvement, so better move on.
I think he`s now really focusing on making some standout pieces that will stand the test of time. Almost feels like`s kind of making a transition from craftsmen to studio potter/artist.
lUKAV28 wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:49 am
Takeyoshi from http://www.tokoname.or.jp/teapot/maker_profile/hokujo/ might have some pieces. I bought few Hokujo pieces from him. What was not available he restocked for me. Good luck.
Thanks! I`ll shoot him an email.
AozoraE
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:47 am

LeoFox wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:39 am
Ouch, that is quite the mark up :D
I`ll keep that in mind if I don`t manage to find anything though.
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pedant
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:30 pm

can anyone share examples of his new artistic direction? first i'm hearing of it. :)
.m.
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:52 pm

@AozoraE Please share if you get a lead. I've been wondering about Hokujo too (even googled him to see if he's still alive). Looks like Kohokujo took over the production of the more affordable/utilitarian pieces, which although quite similar sometimes, there's always something somewhere a little bit off to my liking.
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Victoria
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:28 pm

Honestly I’m not surprise to hear that Hokujo is making and focusing on more one off artisanal pieces. He’s 75 years old (b. 1945) has gained international acclaim as a skilled craftsman, and is at the top of his artisanal trade. Hokujo kiln (Shimizu Genji 清水源二 is 3rd generation) is caring on nicely continuing to make quality yakishime pieces, and his son Kohokujo is coming into his own ready to take over the kiln. I will say though that each Hokujo kyusu I have is unique, four are yakishime (stoneware), and two are earlier pieces made with Tokoname shudei clay. While his many yakishime kyusu may apear to be ‘similar’ and more ‘functional’ than artisanal, each one is unique, perfectly proportioned, and crafted. The similarities are deceptive, definitely there because his style permeates each piece, yet each one has a different balance and form.

I recommend asking Asako ISOBE, she is in Tokobane and knows Hokujo well;
Victoria wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 2:02 pm
  • Asako Isobe: contact via web site, Facebook Messenger, or visit her large store, Ceramall in Tokoname. Her boutique web site may not have everything she has in stock or can source. Let her know that TeaForum sent you.
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Victoria
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:02 pm

AozoraE wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:40 am
..... From what I‘ve been told(not by AN) Hokujo is moving away from his standard yakishime pots and now is focusing solely on making more expensive ‘one-off’ pots. A saw a few of them a few weeks ago. Both were priced at nearly $900. A bit over my budget unfortunately :lol:
Can you describe what Hokujo’ new kyusu look like, since you were able to see them? Clay, firing, form.. @AozoraE
AozoraE
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Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:35 pm

Victoria wrote:
Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:02 pm
Can you describe what Hokujo’ new kyusu look like, since you were able to see them? Clay, firing, form..
Sure thing!

Both teapots I was shown were exactly the same apart from handle type(one was a 'ball' type handle, the other was one of the more long narrow varieties he makes). I'm not sure the type of clay that he used since it was completely different from anything I've seen from him before, but from the photos it looked like it almost very-deep purple color on the top half of the pot, while the bottom half looked to be blackish-brown. May have been some sort of new clay mix he's come up with. Shape wise, it looked to be one of his typical taller, globular shaped pots that I've seem him use for his other nanban pots. Nothing new there.

I was surprised to hear that it was both a nanban and rihi style teapot since the finish seemed smooth; nothing like the very rough, 'rocky' texture of most of his other nanban pots. He seems to have also changed the type of rihi he uses. He's done anyway with the more purplish-tinged quartz and has moved to an almost sparkly golden golden collar variety. I could be wrong since I only saw three photos of both of them but they definitely had a particular shine to them that I haven't seen in rihi before. Together with the rihi, the pots had a very 'midnight sky' sort of vibe to them :lol:

Hopefully we'll get some more information on them soon. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing them sometime next year.
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lUKAV28
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Fri Jan 01, 2021 4:02 am

I found this now already sold offering of Hokujo. Never seen this kind of shape/glaze(?) from him. Somehow it reminds me of Inge Nielsen work.

http://www.tokoname.or.jp/teapot/maker_ ... kujo79.htm
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