Mingei Pottery Handmade in Japan

The black smoke behind this house is coming from

a kiln - a pottery kiln in the village of Mashiko in Japan.

And the village children, in the morning, are on their way to school.

The house they are passing belongs to Hamada - the leading

potter in the village.

Hamada is also one of the leading artists of Japan and one of

the most famous potters in the world.

Hamada is talking with Mr Yanagi - a famous member of the group

that includes Hamada, Tomimoto, Kawai and Bernard Leach,

perhaps the most celebrated modern potters in the world.

Mashiko originally became a pottery village for the good reason

that there is suitable clay in the hills nearby.

These bleak and barren hills

with only poor scrub growing out of a poor soil.

It'd be hard to imagine more unpromising earth.

The lifeless clay lies in seams in the side of the hills

and has to be hacked out by hand.

FIRE CRACKLES

It's an anxious moment first peering into the kiln.

Is everything all right? Have the pots collapsed?

Have the glazes fired correctly?

It's all right. It's a wonderful sight.

Like Aladdin's cave, all the pots, which looked drab and dull

before going into the kiln, are now glowing.

Dark green, deep brown,

black and pure white as though they'd been burnished.

This is one of the best moments in the life of a potter.

CHATTER AND LAUGHTER