Kurose-cho is located in the south of Higashi-Hiroshima City.
In this interview, we talked to Yasudagama, a ceramic artist in this town.
Yasudagama is run by Mr. Shinpei Nakaya and Ms. Kimiyako Nakaya, who not only make their own works, but also offer pottery and pizza making experiences.

The interview took place in the workshop where the works made by the couple and the students of the pottery class were lined up.

The large wooden desk and various materials reminded me of the art room in my high school.

It was the words of his homeroom teacher when he was in the fifth grade that inspired Shinpei Nakaya to pursue art.

One of his teachers saw him drawing in class and told him, "You use all your paints sparingly and make interesting pictures. He fell in love with painting and began to pursue it.

He thought about going to an art university, but his parents were against his decision to pursue a rigorous art career.

He went to Europe to see what he would think of himself in a place known as the Mecca of art.
It was there that Shinpei had an encounter that inspired him to become a ceramic artist.

When he learned that there was an exhibition of Matisse, an artist Shinpei liked in Europe, he went to see the paintings. In the exhibition hall, there was a large painting and about 20 bronzes in the middle.

It made him shocked by the presence of the three-dimensional bronzes, which were not two-dimensional.
He thought about what can be done in three dimensions in parallel with my paintings, which he had decided to work on for the rest of my life.

The next thing he faced was making ceramics using clay.

They said, "We want people to experience the joy of making things from scratch."

When touching clay to make pottery, the sensations of your fingertips go directly to brain, which stimulates your right brain and refreshes you.

It is true that when creating something, we usually use Internet or a medium such as a pen to do it, and we may not have felt the joy of creating something from scratch with our own hands.

When I told her that, she showed me how to make a "paper copter" out of a sheet of paper. Just by folding the paper, you can make a paper copter that spins around. You can make it even more fun by coloring it or changing its size. I felt as if I understood a little more about the joy of making things.

Yasudagama organizes pizza baking experiences using its own kiln to get people interested in ceramics, and offers a combination of pizza making and ceramics experience.

They are encouraged by the reaction of participants who enjoys its taste and experiences.

MICHISHIRUBE offers such an experience where you can feel the "joy of making things from scratch."

How about spending some time refreshing yourself while touching the local soil?