BY YOSUKE AKAI,
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan)
MASHIKO, Tochigi Prefecture--Two craftsmen of famed Mashikoyaki pottery will visit Cambodia this year to help revive the country's centuries-old pottery culture that was destroyed by Pol Pot's regime.
They will work with local potters in Kampong Chhnang province for about 10 days to offer firing, design and other techniques.
Several Cambodians will also be invited to Mashiko around summer to undergo training.
Thanks to its clay, the Cambodian province was a noted pottery production center--until the Khmer Rouge's bloody reign in the 1970s, when pottery making was banned and all documents were burned.
Pottery making in the area has since been limited to farmers producing simple daily ware during the agriculture off-season.
"Highly refined pottery that does not exist in present-day Cambodia has been unearthed from 12th- to 13th-century ruins of the Angkor (Khmer) era," said Masataka Onishi, who helped start the project.
Onishi serves as senior deputy director at the Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) in Singapore.
The Cambodian government asked for Japan's help in reviving the province's pottery industry through CLAIR, set up by Japanese local governments for international exchange.
Its Singapore office is in charge of programs in Southeast Asia.
The Tochigi prefectural government responded to the call by dispatching a pottery specialist for research in fiscal 2005.
Junichi Tsukamoto, a senior researcher at the prefecture's Ceramic Technology Support Center in Mashiko, has visited Kampong Chhnang three times to analyze local clay and the techniques of the potters.
He also taught glazing and other skills to Cambodian potters, most of them women.
For example, he showed them how to produce ash glaze from wood ash, which adds strength and a glossy shine to a product.
The technique is very common in the production of Mashikoyaki, a folk-style pottery featuring simple, sturdy forms. Mashiko ware comes in black to whitish gray and persimmon red, among other varieties.
But Tsukamoto noticed one flaw in Cambodia.
"The clay is good and they have skills, but they do not try to invent their own designs or embellishment," he said.
So during his latest visit in February, he suggested to his eight selected students that they visit antique shops and other locations.
"Come out with designs that make good use of local culture," he told them.
The Cambodian potters are now creating sample designs after arabesque patterns and other reliefs from the Angkor Wat temple, a World Heritage site, according to Tsukamoto.
He has high hopes for the Cambodians' visit to Japan this year: "I hope they will feel the atmosphere of this pottery town of Mashiko."
After the potter exchange this fiscal year, the prefecture is considering construction of a kiln in Cambodia, he said.
They will work with local potters in Kampong Chhnang province for about 10 days to offer firing, design and other techniques.
Several Cambodians will also be invited to Mashiko around summer to undergo training.
Thanks to its clay, the Cambodian province was a noted pottery production center--until the Khmer Rouge's bloody reign in the 1970s, when pottery making was banned and all documents were burned.
Pottery making in the area has since been limited to farmers producing simple daily ware during the agriculture off-season.
"Highly refined pottery that does not exist in present-day Cambodia has been unearthed from 12th- to 13th-century ruins of the Angkor (Khmer) era," said Masataka Onishi, who helped start the project.
Onishi serves as senior deputy director at the Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) in Singapore.
The Cambodian government asked for Japan's help in reviving the province's pottery industry through CLAIR, set up by Japanese local governments for international exchange.
Its Singapore office is in charge of programs in Southeast Asia.
The Tochigi prefectural government responded to the call by dispatching a pottery specialist for research in fiscal 2005.
Junichi Tsukamoto, a senior researcher at the prefecture's Ceramic Technology Support Center in Mashiko, has visited Kampong Chhnang three times to analyze local clay and the techniques of the potters.
He also taught glazing and other skills to Cambodian potters, most of them women.
For example, he showed them how to produce ash glaze from wood ash, which adds strength and a glossy shine to a product.
The technique is very common in the production of Mashikoyaki, a folk-style pottery featuring simple, sturdy forms. Mashiko ware comes in black to whitish gray and persimmon red, among other varieties.
But Tsukamoto noticed one flaw in Cambodia.
"The clay is good and they have skills, but they do not try to invent their own designs or embellishment," he said.
So during his latest visit in February, he suggested to his eight selected students that they visit antique shops and other locations.
"Come out with designs that make good use of local culture," he told them.
The Cambodian potters are now creating sample designs after arabesque patterns and other reliefs from the Angkor Wat temple, a World Heritage site, according to Tsukamoto.
He has high hopes for the Cambodians' visit to Japan this year: "I hope they will feel the atmosphere of this pottery town of Mashiko."
After the potter exchange this fiscal year, the prefecture is considering construction of a kiln in Cambodia, he said.
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