About two years ago, Boon Manakitivipart introduced me to a few new pots he had found on one of his trips to Japan. Interestingly enough the potter chop spelled Bunzan. For those of you know that know Bonsai Boon the irony is obvious.
His use of colors really fascinated KJ and I so we undertook to find more of these pots and build a collection. As you will see from some of the following photographs, his pots have a faint reminiscence of Tofukuji glazes though his pots shapes are not as refined as his.
I asked Yoshi to see if he could obtain a bit of background on Bunzan. He reached out to Ms. Shima the proprietor of Bonsai Howawa to obtain a short bio on Bunzan. Kaoru Ito uses the name Bunzan for his pots. he was born on May 10, 1949 and began making pots by hand when he was 24 years old. Bunzan does not use molds and produces his works by the touch of his fingers.
KJ and I have collected over 40 of his pots for our personal collection and to give away a few to close friends. We enjoy his use of color. Many of his pots are round or oval with an occasional square or rectangle pot to be found. He also on a rare occasion creates a pot that represents items like acorns, squash etc.
His use of color is fascinating. Photos really don’t allow you to appreciate the vibrancy and saturation of the colors he uses.
This is one of our favorite pots by Bunzan. Even though the shape of the pot is plain the glaze is extremely good.
Here a number of his pots so please enjoy and click the image for a larger version of the photo.
Bunzan’s studio as expected is small with pots everywhere. Boon took theses photos on his last trip to Japan. Fortunately he was kind enough to allow KJ and I to collect three new pots which will be the subject of a future post.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about this potter. Please post your thoughts about his work.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Sam and KJ
Scott Straley said:
Sam,
First off, it’s great to find your blog-saw it on Jonas’ site, don’t know how I missed it. These pots are beautiful, the diversity of color is amazing. I just kept going back and forth between the ones I thought were the most beautiful. I will be reading your past posts in the upcoming days, what a treat this blog is. Thanks to you both for putting these up.
Happy holidays.
Scott
Sam Edge said:
Hi Scott,
It is good to hear from you and thanks for the comments about our blog. We hope you keep coming back!
By the way I had just a taste of this pepper the bhut jolokia but frankly it made me ill. I think its Scoville rating is just over 1,000,000. See it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale
Merry Christmas,
Sam and KJ
Scott Straley said:
Sam, Sam, Sam…..cooking pepper only! Eating peppers are in the thai dragon area…I’m sure it’s something you won’t do again anytime soon. Let me know if you want to grow some other less hot peppers (thai’s, etc)this year, I always have seedlings in the spring.
Scott
Sam Edge said:
So true Scott. Yes some Thai peppers would be great! See you at the BIB show.
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danbartonbonsaipots said:
Fabulous pots and exciting glazes. What temperature were they fired too? Would love to see some more.
Happy New Year,
Dan
Sam Edge said:
Hi Dan I will attempt to find out from the potter but it make take a few months. I’m heading over to Japan in a month so I hope to find out then. I have another 50 or so of his pots so I will try to post a second article on them.
Best regards,
Sam
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David said:
Is it possible for me to buy Bunzan pots somewhere?
These pots are amazing.
Sam Edge said:
Hi David,
Yes it is possible. I’m in Japan today but will post more info on my return to the States. Sam
David said:
Thank you! I look forward to it. I am very interested in a small (10 – 15 CM, depending on the actual style) pot for a shohin slant JBP. I really love the use of color, its like nothing else in the bonsai pot world. Thanks!
Sam Edge said:
David here is a site that regularly posts Bunzan pots. If you click the top picture it will take you to a page that has four of them but 3 have been purchased already. Here is the link: http://www.bonsai-howawa.jp/. The page with Bunzan pots: http://www.bonsai-howawa.jp/kousin-1_4.html Number 1783 is still available. Ms. Shima runs this site and if you contact Yoshi he can purchase them for you but as indicated on my blog he adds a 15% fee to acquire them and then ship them to you. Bunzan pots are still priced (too low in my opinion) very competitively. This is the site that I purchased most of my Bunzan pots (54 and counting) other than those that I bought while in Japan. Keep a watch on the site now that the show period is ending and she is likely to post a few every few days. Good hunting!
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fong chee kean said:
Hi, I am really like the Bunzan pots. May I know how I can go about acquiring this pots for my collection?
Sam Edge said:
Hi, Bunzan is no longer making pots. He students do but I’m not sure where you can purchase them. If I can find his address I will let you know. Thanks, Sam
fong chee kean said:
Hi, may I know how I can contact the potter himself? As I travel very often to japan. I am hoping I can pay him a visit and aquire some of his pots. I don’t know how to obtain his address.
Thank you so much
danbartonbonsaipots said:
Hi Sam,
Sorry I can’t help you with this query as I am unfamiliar with Japanese potters. But I will copy this email to my very good friend (John Milton) who is currently undertaking an apprenticeship in one of the Bonsai nurseries in Japan. John is pretty knowledgeable on Japanese potters.
Hope you’re keeping well
Best regards,
Dan