1918-1980
male
raku pottery
Born as the eldest son of thirteenth generation Raku master Seinyu, his birth name was Yoshihisa but was later changed to Sokichi. He graduated from the Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts) with a degree in sculpture in 1940. Afterwards, he returned to his home province, and with his father having already passed away the year prior, he inherited the mantle of Kichizaemon at the age of 28. Upon returning home, Kakunyu had to reestablish the Raku family and begin making pottery literally on his own. It was after 1955 that Kakunyu is thought to have really begun to display his own unique style.
In 1959, he produced one of his masterpieces, the black Raku tea bowl “Rinsho” Following this, he began exhibiting and gaining acclaim for his modern and figurative pieces, beginning with a dual exhibition with Eiraku Zengoro (Sokuzen) in 1964. This was followed by his first solo exhibition in 1973 and, among others, a trio exhibition titled “Ichi-raku Ni-hagi San-karatsu” with Miwa Kyuwa, 13th Miwa Kyusetsu – living national treasure in Hagi ware, and Nakazato Muan, 12th Nakazato Tarouemon – living national treasure in Karatsu ware, in 1975. In 1976, with the goal of preserving and popularizing Raku ware, he donated all of the works and materials passed down through the generations of the Raku family and began making preparations for the establishment of the Raku Museum. Following two years of construction, the Raku Museum opened in 1978, and in the same year was recognized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as the holder of an intangible cultural property for which records ought to be preserved. However, due to years of fatigue and overwork both physically and mentally, Kakunyu suffered a heart attack in 1976 and passed away from lung cancer in 1980 at the age of 63.
Kakunyu began his pottery career after the end of World War II and studied sculpture at the Tokyo Fine Arts School, where he cultivated an understanding and consciousness of the creation of three-dimensional form and the figurative power of sculpture. Using what he learned there as his fuel, he ushered in a new era in Raku ware pottery. Kakunyu said it himself: “Tradition does not imply imitation. One must live in his own time and build his own world.” For him, the key was not to simply imitate a style, or copy or revive something. The key was to leave proof of the era of one’s birth, and to take that unique consciousness born from the “now” in which one lived and throw it into one’s work. His shaping by means of a spatula tool, a technique also used in sculpture, firmly and constructively captured the frame of his tea bowls. Particularly, a modern artificiality is seen in many of his red tea bowls. His two-toned bowls created with various glazes and a contemporary sensibility, color transformations and speckles achieved by playing with the heat of the kiln, and his vistas of kiln-induced color change were all new forms of Raku ware that hadn’t previously existed. This was not just limited to his bowls, as modernistic pieces can also be seen among his other tea utensils. His notable works include: the black Raku tea bowl “Rinsho”; the black Raku flat tea bowl “Shiosai”; the red Raku tea bowls “Juei,” “Sugikodachi,” and “Aki no Yamaji”; and a green-glazed water jar in the shape of a turban shell.
