プロフィール　利茶土ミルグリム

Milgrim’s Journey into the World of Japanese Tea

THE EARLY YEARS

Richard Milgrim's interest in ceramics began in 1974 during his first year of college at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He became totally engaged in foundation level ceramics classes but in the summer of 1975 chose to transfer to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, a very small school with a unique work-study liberal arts program that promised considerable freedom to design his own education.

This change of scenery was the beginning of Richard's discovery of Japan and the world of tea ceramics. During that summer Milgrim's two ceramics teachers, Karen Shirley and Michael Jones, introduced him to various ceramic traditions around the world, particularly those of Japan, a country for which they both had a special love for. During their young lives, both of them had actually studied in Kyoto in the early 1960s. Their experiences in Japan had a profound impact on their lives and aesthetics which were generously shared with Milgrim through stories, the teaching of techniques and the actual use of their collection of Japanese pottery.

About this same time, another teacher, Professor Harold Wright, came to Antioch. Harold also had a long history with Japan, dating back to his days as a soldier there during the Korean War where he fell in love with Japanese culture. After the war he became a scholar of Japanese literature, and did graduate research under renowned Professor Donald Keene at Columbia University. He translated several books of Japanese poetry as well as composing original poetry himself. Between the influence of these teachers as well as other Antioch students similarly captivated by the mystique of Japan, Richard was determined to go there and experience the country firsthand.

Due to the unique nature of curriculum options available to Antioch students, Richard was able to spend one year in Japan on the Antioch Education Abroad (A.E.A.) program where he was given the freedom to structure his time in Japan independently. He arranged to spend two months studying the language at Kansai University of Foreign Studies in Hirakata, near Kyoto, while living with a home-stay family. The remaining ten months were designated as "independent study,” to research the state of traditional ceramics in contemporary Japan.

THE PILGRIMAGE

The first two cold winter months of 1977 were spent trying to gain an elementary grasp of formal Japanese while living in a typical suburban community, feeling detached from the Japan he had hoped to find. Weekend trips around the Kansai area were his salvation.

Upon completing the intensive language program he took the opportunity to visit South Korea with his new friend from the (language) school, Mark Stanley. Fortunately, Mark had spent many years living in Seoul and spoke the language well, enabling them to travel throughout the countryside where Richard got a real taste of Korean culture and history. During these travels he had the opportunity to visit traditional Korean kiln sites which had had a major influence on Japanese tea ceramics over the centuries. It was an eye-opening adventure that further enhanced Milgrim's desire to get back to Japan and begin exploring on his own.

On his return Richard moved into the heart of Kyoto, the ancient capital and epicenter of Japanese culture. From there he spent the next few months taking short trips to pottery centers in the vicinity of Kyoto along with long days walking around the old capital. These solo excursions were invaluable in familiarizing Milgrim with not only the language but also the daily customs and lifestyles of Japan, and Kyoto culture in particular. The seemingly endless variety of temples, shrines, museums, gardens and old shops provided unlimited inspiration and the joy of new discoveries each day. At the same time the young potter-to-be was honing his eye by seeking out the finest quality arts and traditional crafts throughout the city — a place well-known throughout the world for offering the highest standards in all Japan.

Having established a base in Kyoto and beginning to gain some confidence in his Japanese, Milgrim decided to begin his full-time journey around Japan. Hoping to avoid the rainy season, he decided to go north towards Hokkaido. Leaving Kyoto in mid-June with only his backpack, a guide to Japanese kiln sites and a few introductions, he hitchhiked to Mashiko — a folk pottery town made famous as the home of HAMADA SHOJI (1894-1978) and his most famous disciple, SHIMAOKA TATSUZO (1919-2007). As one of the original artisans to be designated a NINGEN KOKUHOU (Living National Treasure) by the Japanese government, Hamada was thought of as the epitome of the traditional Japanese folk potter in the West. He was, along with KAWAI KANJIRO (1890-1966), BERNARD LEACH (1887-1979) and YANAGI SOETSU (1889-1961), one of the founding fathers of the MINGEI-KAI (Japanese Crafts Society) in 1926.

Endowed with an introduction to both Hamada and Shimaoka, visiting Mashiko proved to be one of the greatest highlights of Milgrim's year in Japan. Having the opportunity to quietly sip tea and talk (mostly in English) with the legendary Hamada, was like a dream to the young man who came to Japan idolizing this master potter.

As it turned out, Shimaoka Tatsuzo was not only Hamada's most famous apprentice from back in the 1940's, he was also his next door neighbor. When Richard arrived at Shimoaka’s home he was shocked to find that the foreign apprentice at the time was a former Antioch student, David Vitarelli, with whom he became fast friends. Shimaoka-Sensei (teacher) unexpectedly offered Richard the opportunity to spend a few weeks at his kiln to observe the complete firing cycle in his unique 4-chamber wood/salt kiln.

After three weeks around the kiln in Mashiko, Milgrim decided to continue on his journey, yet in his heart Richard knew that he wanted to return. Before leaving he received Shimaoka-Sensei's approval to come back to Mashiko at a "future date" — to do a full apprenticeship.

With that, he set off once again, seeking out potters and kiln sites, both old and new, throughout the four main islands of Japan. By traveling alone and hitchhiking his Japanese improved rapidly, and he was constantly overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of the Japanese people he encountered on his pilgrimage.

Over the next five months Milgrim visited over a hundred potters, traveling through every one of the Japanese prefectures, except the islands of Okinawa. During this touring he found three more potters with whom he was eager to study. All three agreed to his request for an apprenticeship in the future — two were in Kyushu and the other in Kyoto.

By this time it was December ('77) and despite his desire to stay in Japan and begin an apprenticeship he decided to return to Antioch so he could graduate the following spring before starting the next stage of his life.

BACK IN AMERICA - THE TURNING POINT

As it turned out, a series of unexpected events occurred after his return to Antioch that delayed his return to Japan until the summer of 1979. In retrospect, that year and a half provided Milgrim with an opportunity to put his experiences in Japan into perspective and to develop a clearer vision for his future options when he returned. This resulted in a grant proposal to the Thomas J. Watson Foundation in the fall of 1978 to return to Kyoto, Japan and study "Chado" (The Way of Tea) at the Urasenke School of Tea while doing an apprenticeship with master potter IWABUCHI SHIGEYA (1925-1993). Richard realized that despite his love for Hamada and folk-art pottery, he was more intrigued by the tea ceramics of the 16th and 17th centuries he had seen in museums throughout Japan. He was anxious to make tea utensils, yet he didn't know anything about the context of their function — hence his decision to study "Chanoyu" as part of his proposal. Fortunately, Urasenke had a school at their headquarters in Kyoto that provided the only full-time program for foreign students wishing to study "The Way of Tea" in depth. It was called the Midori-Kai.

The potter he chose to apprentice to, Iwabuchi Sensei, was a wonderful artist-craftsman who had worked long ago with two other Living National Treasures, TOMIMOTO KENKICHI (1886-1963) and KONDO YUZO (1902-1985). Richard had visited his studio southern Kyoto several times in the fall of 1977 and had received approval to return to study sometime in the future. In his proposal he requested permission to work for him three days a week, spending another three at Urasenke in the Midori-Kai program.

While awaiting word from the Watson Foundation in the winter of 1978-79, Milgrim returned to his home in Boston where he was introduced to the local Urasenke representative Allan Palmer, an accomplished teacher who had spent many years studying in Kyoto. On February 29th, 1979, the 388th anniversary of the death of SEN no RIKYU, the founder of the Sen Family Tea Tradition, Richard began his formal study of "Chado." Less than two weeks later the letter informing him that he'd been awarded the Watson Fellowship arrived. About this time he was introduced to the Director of the Japan House Gallery in New York, RAND CASTILE. The Gallery was about to open a ground-breaking show entitled "CHANOYU," featuring 100 masterpieces from Japan. It was the first major exhibition in the U.S. focusing exclusively on the arts of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The previous summer Milgrim had worked as an intern in the Fogg Museum at Harvard University under the well known scholar of Japanese Art, Professor JOHN ROSENFIELD. The professor recommended him to Castile for a job during the exhibition that spring, citing his interest in Tea and Japanese ceramics as well as his Japanese language ability.

This proved to be the "simple twist of fate" that would lead Milgrim to the next stage of his destiny, an unexpected encounter with Dr. SEN GENSHITSU, a major cultural figure in Japan and the 15th generation Grand Master of the Urasenke Tea Tradition. Dr. Sen was undoubtedly the most influential personality in the world of Tea at that time, not to mention one of the primary sponsors (along with the Japanese Ministry of Culture) of the Chanoyu Exhibition.

The day before the formal opening, Milgrim was guiding his Antioch College teacher MICHAEL JONES through the exhibition. Suddenly he heard someone ask what he was doing in the gallery. To his complete surprise he found himself face to face with the Grand Master and his wife! They too had come to preview the show privately. Dr. Sen immediately began questioning Richard, curious to know what these two men were doing in this unguarded exhibition of priceless tea utensils. Richard introduced his teacher first, and then explained his job working as a liaison in the gallery. He went on to tell Dr. Sen that he would be coming to Kyoto that fall to study Chanoyu at Urasenke so he would be able to better understand how to make tea ceramics. The Grand Master then shocked Richard by giving him his personal card and insisting he come to see him, so he could introduce Milgrim to renowned potters throughout Japan. Little did Milgrim realize how much this encounter would affect his future.

This serendipitous moment in time began the single most important relationship in Milgrim's career. The chemistry between he and Dr. and Mrs. Sen was both magical, and yet natural at the same time. They immediately took him under their wing and introduced him to an assortment of Japanese dignitaries, curators, and art dealers in New York for the opening. It was as if he had been adopted by a godfather who had presented him with a key to the very world he was seeking to enter. With such a golden opportunity the future seemed preordained.

RETURNING TO JAPAN

From the moment Richard returned to Kyoto as a Watson Fellow in July of 1979, things began to flow. He spent the first month participating in live-in workshops held at the Omoto School of Traditional Arts in nearby Kameoka. It was an intensive program consisting of classes in Chadō, Budō (martial arts), Noh dance, Calligraphy, Sumi-e and Ceramics. The workshop was a perfect reorientation for Milgrim who'd been away from Japan for a year and a half. He had a chance to refresh his Japanese as well as prepare psychologically and spiritually for his apprenticeship and his upcoming immersion into the world of tea.

Shortly after returning to Kyoto he visited Dr. Sen who welcomed him to his home and encouraged Richard to study hard at the studio and show him his work. This was actually quite intimidating since he knew apprentices in Japan weren't usually given much of a chance to do their own work, especially as a novice! To compound the problem, he was the 4th man in a 3-man studio. His primary role was to learn by watching and wait patiently for the opportunity to help.

After 4 months in the shadows, Iwabuchi-Sensei's number one deshi (apprentice) decided to begin his own studio, opening up a workspace for Richard in January. By March of 1980 he was feeling the pressure of not fulfilling his full responsibilities due to only being able to work in the studio 3 days a week. He had learned a great deal about the Way of Tea since September and felt it was now time to begin apprenticing full-time. When he gave Dr. Sen the news that he would be leaving the Midori-Kai, the Grand Master agreed that it was probably time for him to concentrate full-time on his work and again encouraged him to make something special.

For the next year and a half, Milgrim continued to study with Iwabuchi-Sensei. Periodically he showed his best work to Dr. Sen. After about a year had passed he brought in some tea bowls, which the Grand Master felt were special enough that he offered to sign the boxes for them. This marked the beginning of Dr. Sen's literal endorsement of Milgrim's work. Upon completing his apprenticeship with Iwabuchi-Sensei in the fall of '81, with Dr. Sen’s help Richard held his first one-man exhibition in Kyoto at Gallery Monzen. It was time to move on. Dr. Sen continued his support by providing personal introductions for Richard to some of the finest master potters in the traditional ceramic centers of HAGI, BIZEN and MINO.

From 1982 through the spring of '84, Richard lived and studied at these three Meccas in the world of tea ceramics. He was privileged to work for TAHARA TOUBE, the 12th in Hagi, FUJIWARA YU in Bizen, and KATO KOUEMON in Mino. The distinctly unique characteristics of these three sites provided him with a tremendously varied foundation of clays, glazes, techniques and firing styles on which to draw when it came time for him to establish his own workshop.

After finding some land and an old country house northwest of Kyoto in the spring of 1984, he took his fiancee, MINAGAWA MARI, back to Boston for an American style wedding. By mid-summer they returned to Japan and began the process of creating a useable home and studio before winter. The following spring Richard and another "local" foreign potter, SOREN UBISCH from Norway, began building a single-chamber oil and wood-fired kiln similar to one that was used by his teacher in HAGI, TAHARA TOUBEI the 12th.

When it came time to name the new studio Milgrim felt he should consult with Dr. Sen. He had considered using the name of his village or even the local town, a typical option when choosing a name for a new kiln. The grand master felt otherwise. He insisted on naming the kiln RICHADO-GAMA（利茶土窯）using the characters he had chosen to write Richard's name in Japanese, followed by the character for kiln. Because the name "Milgrim" was so difficult for the Japanese to pronounce he had always been known by his first name, which they pronounced Richado. In 1984, Dr. Sen assigned characters to his name that worked phonetically. The ones he chose were RI (利) — taken from Sen no Rikyu, his own 15th generation ancestor and the originator of the Sen family, CHA（茶) — meaning tea, and DO (土) — meaning earth or clay. The coincidental nature of his characters being so perfectly aligned with his true name, as well as his life's work, was another sign to Richard that his destiny had been chosen for him by some other power totally beyond his control. Dr. Sen undoubtedly felt the same way when he chose to name the kiln after Richard — a very rare honor.

For the next 15 years Milgrim followed his passion to create tea wares that combined the best of the historical works with his own unique perspective. He exhibited throughout Japan at temples, museums, galleries and department stores, establishing a particularly strong relationship with the Takashimaya Department Store group and having an annual show at at least one of their branches. His work has been selected for various international exhibitions, and won a number of prizes in juried shows in Japan as well as being regularly selected for the JAPAN NATIONAL CERAMIC EXHIBITION (NIHON TOGEI-TEN) every two years (between 1993~2005).

In 2000, Richard decided to establish a second home and workshop near his home-base in the Boston area while also maintaining his studio in Japan — traveling back and forth between the two. He set up his studio in a community art center (the “EMERSON UMBRELLA”) near his new home in Concord, Ma. There he began experimenting with native American clays and glazes that he gradually began showing on a limited basis, both in the U.S. and Japan.

In the fall of 2004, Dr. Sen once again honored Milgrim by giving him the name KONKO-GAMA（今古窯), for the works created and fired at his studio in Concord. Once again he used characters which phonetically echo the sound of Concord (when it is spoken in Japanese) — not to mention having meanings which can be directly associated with Richard and his current situation: KON（今) — meaning new, current, the present or contemporary, and KO（古) — meaning old, the past or traditional, and KAMA or GAMA（窯) — meaning kiln,今古窯 — KONKO-GAMA. The primary reference in this case seems to be connecting Milgrim's new work made in Concord, which refers to the present or new styles and glazes, with his work done in Japan up to now, which represents the past or traditional styles of tea ceramics. Of further significance though, is the inclusion of the character KON（今) — which is the first character in KONNICHI-AN（今日庵) — the ancestral home of Dr. Sen's family for the past 350 years, further deepening the bond between Milgrim and the Sen Family.

From 2004 to 2013 Richard continued to alternate working at his studios in Japan and America while honing his glazing and firing techniques. He held a variety of exhibitions, lectures and workshops around the U.S. while also exhibiting throughout Japan, primarily at major department store galleries, most significantly the main store of the Mitsukoshi chain in Nihonbashi, Tokyo since 2001.

In 2007 his 2nd solo exhibition at the Nomura Museum in Kyoto was held in conjunction with the publication of a hardbound retrospective volume of Milgrim’s first 30 years in Japan working in clay, released by the prestigious Japanese publisher Kodansha.

2011 saw a number of milestones beginning with his 1st solo exhibition in Boston at the Pucker Gallery. It was enhanced by a series of special tea ceremonies held in the gallery. The next significant event was a symposium in the Boston area specifically focused on the Japanese Tea Bowl. Milgrim was one of 4 major ceramic artists (2 Japanese and 2 Americans) selected to demonstrate at the Harvard Ceramic Studio Workshop as well as participate in the associated exhibition.

In the spring of 2011 Milgrim was selected to be featured as the main character in a documentary produced by the Japanese National Broadcasting Company. The film was titled “An Encounter with Green Tea,” the 3rd in the “FORBIDDEN KYOTO” series (see YouTube.com). The 45 minute program, broadcast worldwide, offers a true insider look at some of Japan’s most unique cultural institutions. In this episode it is “The Way of Tea” (known as CHADO in Japan) that is seen from Milgrim’s perspective as he searches for new ways to add contemporary elements to this 700 year old art form at the heart of Japanese culture with the help of some of its most influential personalities. One can see that rare moment of creative inspiration that leads to the evolution of a new glaze.

The latter half of the year also saw exhibitions at the Douglas Dawson Gallery in Chicago and another major showing at the Yokohama Takashimaya Dept. Store Gallery back in Japan. In 2012 Richard was privileged to hold an important exhibition at the Portland (Oregon) Japanese Garden with a special guest-showing by the internationally recognized Japanese artist, Hiroshi Senju, whose paintings and prints reflected a remarkable synergy with Richard’s ceramics.

Despite these and other exhibition opportunities around the U.S., which surely happened due to his part-time presence in the country, Milgrim felt that trying to live simultaneously in both Japan and the U.S. was becoming too difficult on many levels, particularly because his position in the tea world in Japan was so visible. He felt convinced that the destiny which brought him to Japan was pulling him back. In the summer of 2013 he decided to close the Konko-Gama studio and return to Japan full-time.

At this point his intuition was telling him it was time to get a place in Kyoto proper. Coincidentally, a new encounter led to the discovery of a house for rent in Kyoto which had almost all the features he and Mari had been looking for. Letting go of the home in Concord created the opportunity for a new space that could provide a private showroom for Richard’s work as well as a tea room for Mari to begin teaching Chado again. After leaving Concord they began to settle in during the fall of 2013, just in time to prepare for another major show in the city that was so damaged by the 2011 tsunami — Sendai, in N.E. Japan — for the 1st time.

The Sendai show was followed by another milestone — Richard was asked to host the prestigious “TOINKAI” monthly tea gathering held under the auspices of the Urasenke Foundation in Kyoto. It was attended by the current 16th generation grand master Zabosai Oiemoto along with his son and nephews and 150 distinguished guests. This was the first time in the history of this event that it had been hosted by anyone other than a Japanese!

In the spring of 2014, with the support and encouragement of Kobayashi Taigen, the head priest of Ōbai-in, a sub-temple within the renowned DAITOKU-JI Zen Monastery in Kyoto, Milgrim was privileged to begin his celebration of 30 years since the establishment of his studio and kiln in 1984-5. (This temple dates back to the late 16th century and the time of Sen no Rikyu, the originator of the Urasenke lineage). The Ōbai-in exhibition was a unique opportunity not only to exhibit a wide variety of his works from both America and Japan but it also provided the chance to show his works alongside well-known classical tea wares in an exquisite setting, thanks to the generous cooperation of Toda Hiroshi, one of Japan’s oldest tea utensil purveyors. (A video of the exhibition can be seen on YouTube.com).

Parts 2 and 3 of the Richado-Gama 30th anniversary celebration will be held in the fall of 2015. Part 2 is from October 21-27th, 2015 at the Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Gallery in Tokyo and will be followed by Part 3 to be held at the Nomura Museum, Kyoto from November 17-23rd, 2015.

For more information and perspectives on Richard Milgrim and his career, please see other statements and articles: