THE FUSE

I walked past Kawai Kanjirō’s house and studio twice before I found the door I was looking for. Located on a quiet side street in Kyoto, the unassuming museum dedicated to the life and work of the influential folk potter blends in with all the other machiya townhouses typical of the city, with the metallic sheen of its kawara roof tiles, dark wood latticed windows, and curved bamboo inuyarai screens extending from the plastered facade to the sidewalk. I’m sure that if I could read Japanese, the distinctive wood sign—carved by Living National Treasure Kuroda Tatsuaki—proclaiming the name of the museum would have caught my eye. Otherwise, only a small plaque by the door reads in English: “Kawai Kanjirō’s House Entrance.”