08/09: Kyoto
Kanjiro Kawai House
Tucked into the Gojo-zaka pottery district near Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the Kanjiro Kawai House and Studio feels inseparable from its surroundings. Built in 1937 as both residence and workshop, it was home to Kanjiro Kawai (1890–1966), a leading figure of the Mingei (folk craft) movement. Preserved by his family after his death, the house is now a museum, but it still feels lived-in.
What gives that impression are not display cases or staged objects, but the everyday furniture and fittings that remain in place: the low table, simple stools, wooden and bamboo shelves, even the way light falls across tatami rooms and the courtyard garden. The massive climbing kiln (noborigama), built directly into the structure, ties the house to its function as a working studio.
Kawai’s approach to ceramics was rooted in play and discovery—he often spoke of “letting the clay speak.” That same spirit lingers in the house: not polished or monumental, but open, improvisational, and attentive to material life. Moving through the rooms, surrounded by this rich material culture, it’s easy to sense how making and living were folded into one continuous practice.