Hikidashi Guro Teabowl and Matcha Retreat in Japan
The making, firing and use of Japanese & Korean teabowls for enjoying matcha - a collaborative workshop with Douglas Black and Marco Minetti
This season: We're hosting in a secluded forest studio near Mashiko, Japan
After two successful hikidashi workshops in California and Mallorca last year, we are excited to invite you to a new experience in Japan this October!
We'll be hosting the group in Douglas' gorgeous and secluded riverside studio 'bRIVERb' in the mountains outside Mashiko, Tochigi pref. in the town of Motegi.
There are two workshop options. Both include the same 5 day core workshop curriculum.
Workshop I is simply the 5 day retreat, while Workshop II offers an extra day of guided cultural excursions and a rare chance to stay in a mountain Ryokan with natural baths in a 1300 year old Onsen region and includes a beautiful Kaiseki meal to conclude our time together.
These retreats offer an exceptional opportunity to explore the making, firing, and use of chawan—tea bowls created specifically for drinking matcha. Guided by Douglas and Marco, participants will study the essential qualities of the chawan and develop new forming techniques that combine throwing and handbuilding in a loose, intuitive manner.
Through demonstrations and hands-on practice, we will explore approaches influenced by both Japanese and Korean ceramic traditions, including Setoguro, Ido chawan/ maksabal forms. Particular emphasis will be placed on cultivating an open and responsive mindset at the potter’s wheel, allowing each bowl to emerge with freedom and character. Participants will also learn to make and use bamboo or wooden trimming tools to carve and define the foot of their bowls.
Working with native clays and locally sourced materials, we will discuss the formulation of iron-rich glazes and apply them using traditional pouring ladles. The finished bowls will be loaded into the kiln on shells before taking part in an exciting hikidashi firing under Douglas’s guidance. At peak temperature, the chawan will be pulled directly from the kiln with long metal tongs, creating the deep, lustrous black surfaces associated with hikidashi guro.
The meaning and purpose of the chawan will come full circle as we bring the newly fired bowls into use. Participants will share in the pleasure of a casual tea ceremony, whisking and drinking matcha from their own favorite piece.
We will also explore the refined tradition of kiribako: signed paulownia-wood boxes made to protect and present a selected teabowl on its journey home.
Accommodation and meals will be organized, with clean, peaceful private rooms in a local guesthouse. Our studio time will take place in a beautiful riverside setting surrounded by forested mountains. Although the primary focus will be the making, firing, and use of teabowls, the workshop will retain a relaxed and easy-going ambiance, with space for spontaneous outings and visits as time allows, to experience the local cuisine, agricultural landscape, and vibrant community that is Mashiko.
We'll work in an incredible setting, alongside a beautiful river in the mountains of Japan. Walk the forest trails immersed in nature's energy - an invitation to unplug, slow our pace and reconnect in a serene environment.
Retreat Highlights
-5 days hands-on making and firing
- Learn the aesthetics of loosely made teabowls and take part in a hikidashi firing.
- Discover Japanese clays at the source and process local glaze materials for hikidashi
- Casual tea ceremony with the group and access to premium quality milled matcha + tools
- Learn about Kiribako (paulownia storage box + signing) for one of your selected pieces to take home
- Private rooms in a safe, welcoming guesthouse, nutritious and seasonally prepared meals with local ingredients
- Curated outings, cozy restaurants, and local hospitality, with recommendations for visits/galleries in the region after the retreat
-Limited to 6 participants for an intimate experience
-Onsen Ryokan Stay + Kaiseki Experience (Workshop II only) natural geothermal baths in the 1300yr old hot spring region of Nasu
Important Notes
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- We are offering private rooms with private bathroom in a guesthouse located in a serene environment surrounded by forests and walking trails of Mashiko.
- Each room includes a bath/shower, towels, hairdryer, refrigerator, and hot water pot. Laundry facilities available at the studio or in town
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- Coffee/Tea will be provided at the guesthouse rooms and will be self service, and will be available throughout the day at the mountain studio
- Breakfast will be provided on the first morning of the course at the studio, and we may organize a group grocery visit for the week's breakfast requirements thereafter.
- Lunch will be provided each day around 12:30, a rotation between local restaurants, bentos, and home prepared as the schedule allows
- Dinner will be provided each day. At the end of each day in the studio (5/5:30pm) we'll have a short break for a walk before meeting for dinner outing, aiming to leave the studio by 6/6:30pm, we'll go out as a group to enjoy the countryside flavors and immerse in the local food culture. Some dinners will be at the studio, depending on firing schedule
- Dietary Restrictions/Allergies: Please make a note of any restrictions during the registration process during checkout. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.
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- All materials and the use of tools will be included in the workshop fee.
- The focus of the course will be on making chawan and practicing new techniques. Due to the limited duration of this workshop and intense nature of the firing method, each participant will be given the opportunity to select only one or two teabowls to be hikidashi fired in the studio. (Unfired work may be arranged to be bisque fired to be taken back home)
- Locally sourced materials for glaze and firing costs are also included in the fee
- Hikidashi makers toolkits, as well as matcha toolkits may be purchased separately on site, pending availability.
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- All local transportation to and from guesthouse (Mashiko) and studio (Motegi) and to outings/meals will be included each day. You will not need to rent a car or use public transportation once the workshop begins.
- For those in Workshop II, travel to and from Nasu Onsen will also be included.
- For both workshops, airfare is not included and each participant is responsible for arriving to and departing from our pickup/drop off locations in Mashiko, Japan Location details will be provided after registration.
Instructors
Douglas Black has been based in rural Japan as a full-time, independent artist for more than three decades. From his self-built studio and home in the mountains along the Naka River in the district of Mashiko, a center of the folk craft movement, Douglas has developed original styles influenced by the culture’s appreciation for everyday ware. His genre-crossing body of work ranges from simple, undecorated vessels, celadons, shino, sculpture, installations, and utensils for the tea ceremony (chado), which he studies. Douglas Black has practiced hikidashi for over 25 years. The methods and recipes he learned have been passed down from hikidashi legends.
Marco Minetti is an artist working with native clays in California. Drawn to the large fermentation vessels and the techniques to build them known as “onggi,” Marco dedicated more than five years to learning the coil and paddle technique in Korea as an apprentice to Kwak Kyungtae. Following extensive studies of Korean wheel throwing and buncheong, Korean influence became integral to his work. Both challenging and liberating, the layering of white clays over darker forms captures the energy and state of mind of the moment. Foraging and processing clays, minerals, and ashes while reinterpreting ancient forms offers an opportunity to maintain direct contact with the earth. He strives to honor this connection through an evolving body of work both in large scale forms, tableware, and teaware.
