A Potter's Tale

First Published: November, 1999 by Dark Horse Comics

• Miyamoto Usagi

Pottery

Many believe Japan to have the oldest ceramics tradition in the world. Based on carbon dating, it goes as far back as 10,000 B.C. with the Jomon - or "cord marked" pottery.

Unlike in the West, Japanese pottery is admired as fine art, on a par with painting and sculpture, as well as for its utilitarian purposes. A single teacup crafted by a master potter could command as high a price as 25,000 koku by feudal lords. (A koku is the amount of rice needed to feed a man for a full year.)

Different areas are known for their unique pottery. Mishiko, a village northeast of Tokyo, is renowned for sturdy pieces of glazed stoneware. Shigaraki is famous for large storage jars. The Arita district of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island, is known for its fine porcelain and is considered the nation's ceramics capital.

Toyotomi, the great unifier of Japan during the latter 16th century, led an unsuccessful invasion of Korea, and many Korean artisans were taken back to Japan. The Arita porcelain industry was founded by these Korean artisans. Today, the wares from the Arita kilns are known as Imari ware, after the port from which they are shipped.

The major difference between ceramics and porcelain has to do with the materials used and the firing temperatures. Ceramic pieces consist primarily of clay and are baked at 1000° centigrade. Porcelain is made of finely crushed quartz, feldspar, and kaolin, and fired above 1300°.

The Dawns of Tradition, 1983, published by Nissan Motor Co., Japan, has a wonderful overview and focuses on two schools, with beautiful photographs of potters at work. In Japan Day by Day, by Edward S. Morse, 1990, Cherokee Publishing of Atlanta, GA, the author describes in detail visits to several schools and kilns. Many of the visuals came from two videos: Ugetsu Monogatari, 1953, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, a beautifully photographed ghost story about two peasants who try to seek their fortune; and a National Geographic presentation of the "Living Treasures of Japan," which profiles several artisans working in various traditional arts such as cloth making, sword making, and, of course, pottery.

I guess 13 was my lucky number this past summer. It was with my 13th Eisner nomination (counting the shared one with my Trilogy mates) that I received the award for Best Serialized Story, on Friday the 13th at Comic-Con International. It was my third win, if you're keeping score.

I was also given the Cookie award for the second year in a row by Douglas Barre and Kay Carter. As usual, it was delicious.

I was asked by Wizard Magazine to do a three-page story, but after about a week I was unable to think of a suitable story.

I was talking to my good friend Sergio Aragonés, and he thought up a scenario off the top of his head: "Usagi is walking along a river and the water is red, so he thinks there's a battle. He runs upriver, but it's just some dyers rinsing out fabric."

"Well, I don't know..." I said.

"Do something about netsuke, then."

My story, entitled "Netsuke," appeared in the August '99 issue of Wizard, colored, of course, by Tom Luth.

When writing "The Missive" for this issue, I needed an anecdote demonstrating Young Usagi's impulsiveness, and I thought of that story Sergio told me. It fit in perfectly.

Where do I get my ideas? Sometimes they're given to me by friends.

Incidentally, this is Usagi's son Jotaro's first appearance since UY Book 6 [and UY Vol. 1, #28-31]: "Circles".

Speaking of netsuke, I would like to thank Nathan Reed for the wonderful rabbit netsuke that he gave me this year in San Diego.

The story opens with a close up of a pottery wheel with a piece of clay being worked into a small bowl. In the final panel of the first page, Usagi is revealed to be the one who made the bowl. It turns out Usagi is helping the potter Toyozu and his wife Haruye prepare their wares for market. The process fascinates Usagi, but Haruye explains their wares are difficult to sell since they are "like everyone else's" and they must "find some way to make them distinctive." They hope to sell their wares through the successful broker Izumoji.

That night, a theft is discovered at merchant Izumoji's compound, and the thief stashes his loot while trying to make his getaway. By happenstance, he slips into Toyozu's workshop while avoiding his pursuers, and the thief ends up hiding the most valuable item, a jewel, within the wet clay of one of Toyozu's bowls, pinching the rim to easily pick out the specific bowl later. Though he has ditched all the stolen goods, a short while later the thief is apprehended for questioning as he looks suspicious.

The next morning, Toyozu excitedly displays the altered bowl to Usagi and Haruye. Haruye points out it is the bowl Usagi made. Toyozu shows the "spout" now on the bowl, which Haruye admires as a simple innovation that really "changes the bowl!" She suggests they put the spout on all their wares. Of course, Usagi is a bit perplexed as he has no recollection of making the spout.

And so, spouts are added to all of Toyozu's pottery, and the process of making them continues: drying them in the sun, applying glaze, arranging them in the oven, sealing them in the oven, and finally firing the oven.

The following day, the oven is unsealed, and the pottery removed. Toyozu is very pleased with the outcome, and Toyozu, Haruye, and Usagi proceed to load their cart with the wares to take them to market.

Meanwhile, the thief, Samo, is released from custody as the authorities could not find evidence against him. He first retrieves the gold he stashed and then makes his way to the Toyozu's workshop to get the jewel. Samo catches up with Toyozu and Usagi with the cart merely a block from the workshop. He looks to buy the specific bowl he marked earlier that contains the jewel but soon finds all of the bowls have been altered in the same fashion. Desperate for the priceless jewel, he buys all of Toyozu's wares with the stolen gold so that he can look for the jewel later, surmising it must be in one of the bowls. Usagi is flabbergasted by the ease of selling the pottery.

Later, Toyozu and Usagi recount the sale to Haruye. Usagi wonders aloud who could have put that first spout on the bowl, and Toyozu remarks the "gods must have done it" to favor their hard work. Haruye then reveals she kept that first bowl as a memento, and Usagi suggests giving it to the merchant Izumoji as a gift. Usagi offers to act as their intermediary with Izumoji.

Soon thereafter, the three go to Izumoji's compound and present the bowl, which is very graciously received. Izumoji sees "great things" in Mikasa Toyozu's future, and he offers to handle all of the wares he can produce. Izumoji then places the beautiful bowl for display in a special alcove which once housed the precious jewel that was stolen.

Meanwhile, in the forest near the town, Samo is in the process of shattering all the pots to find the stolen jewel, which of course is to no avail. His "old partners" come across Samo just after he has smashed the last of the bowls. The word is out about Samo's theft, and they want their share of the goods. Unfortunately for Samo, there is nothing to take a share from except out of his hide.

Last change: 19. May 2003

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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.