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It’s that time of the year you start enjoying warm evening air with a familiar scent of spring. How comforting is that to feel?
tabi Arts would like to bring you something which will accompany that special spring feeling. We have carefully hand-picked items that gives you extra touch for your fresh morning, lazy afternoon or quiet night in.
From the previous online exhibiton we are continuing our theme of “Mingei 2026”, with a variety of “blue and white” selections and beyond. We hope you will enjoy and find something truly precious to you.
Featured artists are;
From Tobe Collective (ceramics)
Other Tobe studios –
Sukoshi-ya studio
Donna Shrestha – linocut prints
Masami Kato throwing at his studio
Mingei and Tobe pottery
There are over 80 pottery studios in Tobe right now. The history of its pottery goes back to the 7th century though as an established porcelain town, it was made well-known upon the discovery of porcelain stone in the late 18th century during the Edo period. The town has gone through a several phases of porcelain production. The one that had created a close tie with the Mingei movement was during the 1960s when then the young generation of potters had revolutionised the designs of Tobe pottery after the visit by Barnard Leach and Yanagi who made rather a harsh criticism on its making.
Recent years
Since the end of the last century Tobe has been facing some challenges due to the less interests in pottery making among the younger generation.
The most recognised design such as Karakusa that was invented during the 1960s had been practiced technically in every studio since its beginning. Although the design is undoubtly historical, there have been a slight fatigue about the ideas on new designs of Tobe pottery even among the potters.
The image on the right “Tobe craftsman at his workshop” was made especially for Tobe Collective by a linocut printmaker, Donna Shrestha at London Design Fair in 2023
Tobe pottery and tabi Arts
With the financial support by the Ehime prefectural government tabi Arts has worked on the international potters’ exchange program (TICEP) from 2019 for 3 years.
Since then there have been more interests in the town by the potters from the UK including Tom Kemp who was the first resident artist in 2020.
As I mentioned above, the core theme I have with the potters I work is “evolution”. Mingei was the beginning of the modern history of Tobe Pottery, and this is something I would always like to reflect on, however at the same time now is also the time to build the new history upon the tradition.
January 2026
Mamiko Karasudani-Esposito