Dialogue - Ryuta Fukumura [Part 1] -

Beginnings as a writer

Seeing his father, a ceramic artist, follow in his footsteps, Fukumura says he naturally knew from an early age that he wanted to follow the same path.

"I started pottery in college. I studied the basics of pottery and returned home after graduating to follow in my father's footsteps."

It was an incident that occurred at a school festival that strongly sparked my awareness as a writer.

"When I was turning the potter's wheel in class, I couldn't imagine attaching monetary value to the things I made. But at the school festival in my second year of university, I had the opportunity to sell the pottery I had made. I was skeptical about who would buy my clumsy, uneven pottery, but I made 300 pieces and set them out on display. When the festival started, an elderly couple stopped and complimented me, saying, 'That's really nice,' and chose a piece for me. I was shocked in a way I had never felt before, and my hands were trembling with joy and nervousness as I gave them the change. Looking back, I think that exchange was the start of my career as an artist."

Passion never betrays anyone

Fukumura returned to the kiln and began working as a ceramic artist. Looking back, he recalls that the world of ceramics was far from what he had imagined, and he was faced with the harshness of the art.

"After graduating, I returned to the pottery workshop with the expectation that I would be able to make a living solely from pottery. But the reality was different to what I had imagined, and for several years I couldn't make a living from pottery alone, so I continued to work part-time jobs and turn the potter's wheel. At the time I was inevitably influenced by my father's style of work, so it was also a time when I was constantly searching for what I wanted to create. But even in those difficult situations, there was a lot of fun in the way I could turn a negative into a positive. In fact, it became my driving force."

Even though he didn't have a clear answer as to what he wanted to do, he continued to work on pottery day by day. He rented a free space gallery in Daimyo, Fukuoka, and held his first exhibition himself, believing that if he worked steadily, he would definitely see results.

He would play his favorite hip-hop music in his workshop to motivate himself and work hard every day on his creations.

"After my first exhibition, it led to my next exhibition. I feel like I carve out a path in life when I act with my own will and effort. Many people find it hard to take action, but those who do are sure to see a return. I believe passion never betrays anyone."

Whatever your heart desires

A look at pottery making during his stay in New York.
A major turning point for Fukumura was his pottery-making experience in America in 2015. He says it all started with social media.

"I met Shino Takeda, a female ceramic artist living in New York, on Instagram, and while we were in contact she told me to come and make ceramics in New York. I thought this was my chance, so I booked a ticket right away and visited New York two months later. It was my first time abroad and I couldn't speak any English, but I went alone. In a studio in Brooklyn, ceramic artists from all over the world were free to create their works, and I stayed there and spent a month making pottery.

Unlike Japan, there is no long history or culture like "XX pottery," so the local potters are free to use their hands as they like without being bound by rules, and truly enjoy making pottery. Seeing them like that, the rigid rules I had about making things disappeared. Until then, I had a preconceived notion that "pottery should be made this way," and I think I was really trapped by that idea. It was an experience that allowed me to look at myself objectively, and it gave me a strong push to express my own worldview more freely."

After returning to Japan, Fukumura experimented with glazes repeatedly without being bound by existing methods or conventional wisdom, and his current style of work was established.

Express yourself freely, without being bound by stereotypes, and be honest with yourself. What if you had made a different decision back then?

"Honestly, if I hadn't had the experience in America, I wouldn't have been able to create the style I have today. After returning to Japan, I created silver glazes and iron-based glazes, which gave me the confidence to develop my own style and stick to it. Having had this first-hand experience, I feel like I've removed my own limiters."