The March Trial Residency - Week 1

Hi, it’s Mirjam.

Last night, we finally opened applications for 2026–2027 —

and with that, it felt like the right moment to share what really happened during our very first Trial Residency in March.

As you may have already sensed in our previous blog posts, Ken and I were quite nervous.

Would our schedule work?

Would our guests get along with each other — and with us? And was our English good enough?

To answer all of these questions first: yes… and no ;)

It was a lot of fun. Our guests were some of the loveliest people we could have hoped for, and the three weeks turned into a great learning experience for all of us.

But to be honest, we also had to make some major adjustments to the program along the way. That’s also one of the reasons why it took us a bit longer to open applications.

This photo was taken at the very end — but it’s the only one we have of everyone together.

Before we start with Week 1, let me introduce everyone (from left to right):

Yoko (born in Kyoto, now based in Los Angeles), Mads (from Australia), Nina (4), Mirjam, Ken, Anna (7)

DAY 1 (2026/3/2)

Introduction and Hasami Tour

It seems that on our very first day, we were a bit too nervous to take many photos…

But here’s one of Ken’s homemade vegan welcome lunches:

And one more from the historical exhibition space at the tourist information center (Kurawankan / くらわん館) — featuring Hasami’s famous painting robot:

We had originally planned to visit the historic pottery village of Nakaoyama, but the rain was simply too heavy for a proper walk.Instead, our guide took us to another local history museum (Rekishi Bunka Kōryūkan / 歴史文化交流館).

We ended the day with a lovely cup of hot coffee at Café Hanare (はなれ).

DAY 2 (2026/3/3)

Wheel Trowing Finally, it was time to get our hands dirty. We spent the morning wedging clay, learning how to center, and making small hama.

In the afternoon, Ken taught the first lesson on how to use the traditional nobe-bera.

Today’s classes were quite challenging — not only for the students, but also for Ken-sensei.

But the day wasn’t over yet.We still had one more thing on the schedule: the Hasami Welcome Party!

We want our residents to feel part of the Hasami ceramic community, and our friends are always excited to meet potters from around the world. It turned into a wonderful evening with local food (Lolo Hasami), a few drinks, and lots of ceramic talk.

“Welcome to Hasami, Mads and Yoko!”

DAY 3 (2026/3/3)

Underglaze Painting and a Visit to the Kyushuu Ceramic Museum Day three was my turn in teaching. We started off easy with some ink on japanese paper: strait lines, curves, loops... let the brush flow.

The next step was preparing the underglaze paint, called gosu. Then we did the same line drawing exercise on bisue ware. The brush has to be hold very straight.

In the afternoon we went to the Kyushuu Ceramic Museum to get inspired by the fabulous Shibata Collection.