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Message from Yoshida Kozo (Art Critic)
Thoughts About Richard Milgrim
Written in 1999 for Milgrim's exhibition catalog
celebrating Richard's first 20 years working in Japan
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The first time I met Richard was in December, 1982. On the recommendation of Sen Genshitsu, the grand master of the Urasenke School of Tea, he had become
a live-in apprentice at the pottery studio of Fujiwara Yu in Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, earlier that autumn and was seriously pursuing the study of Bizen
-ware techniques. When I visited the Fujiwara home to call on Fujiwara Kei, Yu's ailing father, I was introduced to the then 27-year-old Richard. This strapping
young American never stopped smiling as he spoke with me in fluent Japanese about Japanese culture. Then he told me about his life and how he came to
Japan, and I listened, forgetting the some 40-year difference in our ages.
Richard began by telling me that he was born in New York in 1955. During his
second year at Antioch College in Ohio, he had his first encounter with Japanese folk art and was especially fascinated by the beauty of the ceramics.
It was then that he decided to come to Japan. After studying basic Japanese at Kansai University of Foreign Language Studies, he spent about one year
hitchhiking throughout the country visiting pottery studios.
It was after returning to America in 1978 that he realized that the masterpieces
of Momoyama Period (late 16th century) tea ceramics he had seen in museums were what in fact stirred his passion. This realization led him to seek an
exclusive grant from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation to return to Japan to pursue an in-depth study of the Way of Tea in order to better comprehend the
aesthetics and actual function of tea ceramics. In 1979 he returned to Boston, where, as fate would have it, he began his first tea lesson on the anniversary of
the passing of Sen Rikyu, the medieval tea master often regarded as the father of the Tea Ceremony in Japan.
A mere two months later, in the spring of 1979, came Richard's seemingly predestined meeting with Dr. Sen, the 15th generation descendant of Sen Rikyu
at the first major U.S. Exhibition of Japanese Tea Art Masterpieces held in New York at the Japan House Gallery.
That fortuitous encounter with the Grand Master, along with his being awarded the Watson Fellowship, provided all the momentum and means Richard
needed for his return to Japan in the summer of 1979. After securing a small room in Kyoto, he began his training in the Way of Tea (Chanoyu) three days a
week while devoting the rest of his time apprenticing at the southern Kyoto studio of the well-known ceramic artist Iwabuchi Shigeya.
This grueling schedule tested Richard's determination but he persevered under the watchful eyes of his two mentors. After two years working with Iwabuchi
Sensei and holding his first exhibition in Kyoto, Dr. Sen then provided Richard with a personal letter of introduction to some of the finest pottery studios in
Japan to further his study of tea ceramics in a variety of traditional styles. These included the workshops of the 12th generation Hagi-ware potter Tahara Tobei,
the 2nd generation Bizen potter Fujiwara Yu and his disciples, as well as Kato Koemon, a 2nd generation potter in the Mino-ware tradition. Richard intentionally
kept these live-in study periods brief to avoid becoming overly influenced by any one teacher's style, preferring to concentrate more on the techniques unique to each kiln and tradition.
In 1984, Richard acquired a traditional farmhouse in the village of Yotsuya, about an hour from Kyoto proper, and after his marriage to Minagawa Mari, an
Urasenke school assistant teacher at the time, he built a kiln there in 1985. Dr. Sen Genshitsu named the kiln Richado-Gama
, a truly rare honor as the Chinese characters are not only pronounced the same as Milgrim's real name in English, but each of them is inseparably related to who and what Milgrim is and
does.
RICHADO-GAMA  , the name of Milgrim's kiln
- RI
 from Rikyu  , a famous tea master (1521-1591 AD)
- CHA
 , meaning tea
- DO
 , meaning earth or clay
- GAMA
 , meaning kiln
His work is now recognized among tea circles in Japan and he is known simply as Richado. This past year he held successful exhibitions in Kyoto and
Yokohama to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his career in Japan.
Richado uses the Shino, Oribe, Black Seto, Yellow Seto, Korean Karatsu, Black
Karatsu, Black and White (Kokuhaku-yu) as well as variations of these glazes. His white rice-straw ash glaze was actually named Hakuhen-yu by the grand master.
With his unique understanding of the principles of harmony, respect, peace and tranquility, which are at the heart of the philosophy of the Way of Tea, Richado
has succeeded in recreating the splendor of the tea ceramics of the Momoyama era, not as a Japanese nor as an American, but as a citizen of a borderless
world. I look forward to his continuing success in the future.
Yoshida Kozo
Art Critic
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