I came to know Mr. Gafu from the flyer of his previous exhibition "急須バカ Kyusu-Baka" (lit. Kyusu holic/crazy/addict) ( http://utsuwanote.exblog.jp/i375/ ), held at 〔ギャラリーうつわノート Gallery Utsuwa Note〕in Saitama prefecture, in December 2016.

Unfortunately I couldn't go to the exhibition, but his fine Kyusu (which would suit the Sencha lover's taste) were burned into my mind.

The second time when I saw his Kyusu was at the 〔無一物 Muichimotsu〕, a Sencha-do utensil gallery in Nara (where has become my favorite place / oasis to be in the world of 煎茶道 Sencha-do or 文人趣味 Bunjin-Shumi since the first visit). The man working at the gallery explained me of Mr. Gafu as an up-and-coming Kyusu artist. I bought his Kyusu at my second visit to Muichimotsu, and since then, I use his Kyusu for the special occasion.

Even though many of good Kyusu artists in Tokoname are from Kyusu maker's family, Mr. Gafu is by his own.

He was born in Tokoname city, in 1988. So, I imagine, even he is not originally from Kyusu maker's family, he has been familiar to the unique atmosphere of the pottery city, Tokoname.

I heard he had been into playing baseball until graduating from junior high school.

He graduated from the Ceramic course, Tokoname high school in 2007.

He decided to step into the path as a Kyusu maker, because making Kyusu requires a lot of techniques, therefore he can learn a lot.

He graduated from Nagoya Zokei University of Art & Design in 2011.

From 2009, he had learnt from Mr. 村越風月 Fugetsu Murakoshi (who is one of the great Kyusu artist) while he was in the university.

Then, he became independent in 2012.

2018.01

Tokoname Kyusu Artist 常滑急須作家 : Gafu Ito 伊藤雅風さん