THIS YEAR’S “NEW TEA” SHINCHA EXHIBITION
teapots and tea caddies

This years fresh new tea (shincha) just arrived from the tea fields, and we welcome you back to Gallery Nichinichi for our annual “New Tea” Shincha exhibition. We will be featuring the basic tools of our tearoom and presenting you with a wide range of teapots by Mitsuo Morioka and wooden tea caddies by Tatsuya Aida.

Morioka throws his teapots from either Bizen or Azumino clay. He fires the unglazed ware for around seven days in his noborigama using red pine wood. This kind of firing brings out the characteristics and virtues of the clay best. The unpredictable flow of the fire and its flames creates varied atmospheres and temperatures in each part of the kiln, making each ceramic a truly unique piece. We feel that this kind of unglazed earthenware is the superlative ceramic for brewing delicious tea.

In this exhibition we will offer different kinds of teapots (kyūsu, hōhin, dobin) in three sizes each (small size for use by 1–2 people, medium size for use by 2–3 people, and large size for use by 4–5 people) in addition to plenty of water cooling vessels (yuzamashi).

Aida’s hand-turned wooden tea caddies seal so tight that even a single sheet of paper will not fit between the body and the lid. Enjoy their smooth roundness with your hand and the landscape of the grain with your eyes. The longer you use it, the more you will discover the delicate craftsmanship embodied in each unique piece.

We present a lot of tea caddies in different sizes. The smallest tea caddies are well-suited for matcha (natsume), and the largest ones can hold 200gr of green-leaf tea. The caddies are crafted from a variety of common as well as rare tree species: Japanese walnut, cherry, plum, rosewood, American walnut, quince, black persimmon, and others.

Now is just the right time of the year to keep the windows open all day. After this long time of lockdown we are truly looking forward to welcoming you to our abode, where the fresh spring wind flows in from the garden.

Come see how we prepare green tea in our tearoom Toka.

WORKSHOP｜SHINCHA @ HOME
7 JUNE (Sunday), 14 JUNE (Sunday), and 21 JUNE (Sunday)
14:00-15:00
Place: tearoom toka
Fee: ¥2000 (tea and sweets included)
Participation: Each session will be limited to 4 people (please apply by email or phone)

Join Elmar, who gazes at life and living through the lenses of philosophy, homeopathy, and the arts. Let’s have a cup of tea and talk about our visions of life in “corona times”.

TALK EVENT｜“Let’s Talk About Health”
Elmar WEINMAYR｜Classical Homeopath, Doctor of Philosophy
6 JUNE (Saturday) and 20 JUNE (Saturday)
14:00- 15:00
Place: gallery nichinichi
Fee: ¥1000 (tea and sweets included)
Participation: If you would like to participate, please apply by email or phone.

森岡 光男｜MITSUO MORIOKA
Morioka Mitsuo was born in Zushi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 1944. After apprenticing at the “Meigetsu-gama” workshop in Kamakura, he worked in several ceramic workshops in Hagi, Bizen, and Okinawa, becoming skilled in a range of styles and techniques. In 1972 he settled in Bizen and built a four-chambered noborigama kiln with his younger brother. Morioka was 31 years old when he was visited by Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi’s art and personality left a deep impression on him. Noguchi encouraged him to travel to America and he did so in 1976. He visited Noguchi several times in New York and built a wood-fired kiln for an American potter in Seattle. After living in America for a year, Morioka spent several months travelling in Europe. Returning to Japan in 1977, he first set up a workshop in Ikeda, Nagano Prefecture, where he fired glazed ceramics in an oil-burning kiln. In 1982 Morioka built his own noborigama in a remote, isolated valley of Yasaka Village. Since then, he has been exclusively firing unglazed ceramics.

會田 竜也｜TATSUYA AIDA
Aida Tatsuya was born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1976. Wood has been an important part of his life since a young age, thanks to the influence of his uncle, a carpenter. Aida studied art education at Tokyo Gakugei University, and majored in woodworking at the Kyoto City University of Arts Graduate School. He tried working at a design company in Tokyo but couldn’t shake the desire to make things with his own hands. After working as an apprentice at a furniture workshop in Okayama, Aida became an independent artist in Fukushima. Following the 2011 earthquake, he moved to Hyogo Prefecture. Aida’s wooden tea caddies, masterpieces in their own right, were sparked by his parents’ wish to have one.