Fieldwork Japan
Ogami, Sasayama
Fieldwork Japan is a pottery studio located in the rural hamlet of Ogami, on the outskirts of the town of Tanba-Sasayama in Hyogo Prefecture. Sasayama is an old castle town located in the Tanba region, one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kiln sites. Tachikui, the center of Tanba-yaki is only a 20-minute drive from Ogami.
John Dix is the resident potter at Fieldwork. Along with producing his own work, John offers workshops and classes throughout the year. He fosters a community with both local folks and people from around the world coming together for the purpose of making great pots.
The Ogami facilities consist of a pottery studio, two anagama kilns, kitchen-dining room, and tea house. Above the studio is a large tatami room that can accommodate up to 6 people. A new multi-purpose studio and gallery with a relaxing loft expands the pottery studio.
The studio and kiln in Ogami are part of a larger non-profit organization called Fieldwork. The idea behind Fieldwork is to rejuvenate rural settings by creating an environment where people of various backgrounds and nationalities can work together on a common interest.
THE KILNS
We have three Kilns; a large anagama, a small anagama and a kerosine kiln. The big anagama has interior dimensions of 274cm from door to flue, 160cm wide and 120cm high, stepping up to a height of 70cm at the flue. It is fired two or three times a year for up to seven days. The chimney was rebuilt in 2014. The second, smaller anagama was built as part of a kiln building workshop. Master kiln builder, John Bradford came over from America to lead the build. It’s smaller than the big kiln, though it shares the same chimney. We can load it in a day and a half and fire it in two. It’s a fun experimental kiln that yields very different work than the big kiln. The kerosine kiln is used primarily for bisqueing.
New Lodging for 2024
In 2023 we received a very generous donation from dear friends Susan Kotulak and Ron Sencer, founders of the OkiDoki Anagama in the Hudson Valley of New York, for the purpose of building additional more comfortable accommodations. After consulting a number of architects we settled on a young local designer, Kazumasa Shige, who came up with a wonderful design. We broke ground in late September 2023, and it was completed in May 2024.
The new facility has 2 bedrooms, one with a loft and a private toilet. There is also another toilet and full bath. This completes the plan to offer accommodations for every comfort level: from a tent and dorm space, and up to a private bedroom with private bath.
We hope this space will offer comfortable accommodations not only to people attending workshops, but also pottery lovers traveling through Japan.
I cannot thank Sue and Ron enough. They are two people who want to see, and have the capacity, to make the world a better place.
