Tofu ni Kasugai, Porcelain, by Kenta Takaki
By Meher McArthur, exhibition curator
We’ve all at some point eaten tofu served on a ceramic dish, but Japanese artist Kenta Takaki plays with our expectations of this white staple of the Japanese diet by crafting chunks of tofu out of porcelain clay – as ceramic sculptures. Some float in water, while others are tied with straw or are pierced with metal nails and staples. These whimsical objects are works of art that Takaki has created out of Amakusa porcelain clay, a pure white clay excavated near his home city of Kumamoto on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu.
These works, along with some of his more conventional porcelain vessels, will be on view in the Kosaka Center for Arts & Crafts on the 5th floor of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) on Saturday August 16 and Sunday August 17 (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.), as part of the Nisei Week 2025 in Little Tokyo. And the artist will be in the gallery to answer questions about his work.
Takaki was born in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1986. He trained in ceramics under Kazuhiro Kanazawa, a fifth-generation potter making Maruo Ware, a popular local ceramic made of red clay. After his apprenticeship with Kanazawa, he became independent and in 2016 established his own kiln. Drawn to the charm of porcelain and its possibilities, Takaki works exclusively in Amakusa clay, a pure white porcelain that has been mined in the Amakusa region for over 250 years.
Using this fine porcelain clay, Takaki creates utilitarian vessels for eating and drinking, including elegant bowls and slender dishes. Unlike many traditional porcelains, his vessels are coated with a transparent glaze but have no decoration, to emphasize the purity of the clay and the grace of the forms. In addition, the energy of the clay motivates Takaki to create thought-provoking sculptural works – often mimicking other materials, such as paper and food. Visitors will be able to view some of his more traditional bowls, cups, and dishes in the exhibition, as well as his kamisara, or “paper plates,” square plates as thin and almost as light as sheets of paper, but strong enough to be used for serving food.
The highlight of this exhibition is arguably his series of porcelain sculptures that mimic tofu, a curd made from mashed soybeans that is a staple of Japanese cuisine – and is also white, but much softer. In fact, because of its softness, there is a traditional Japanese saying, “tofu ni kugi” (originally “tofu ni kasugai,” – literally, “a nail into tofu”), which means as “as pointless as hammering a nail into tofu.” A couple of his sculptures, pierced with a nail or with staples, are witty visualizations of this saying.
This will be the first solo exhibition of Kenta Takaki’s work in the United States, and it will be sure to stimulate visitors’ appetite for fine ceramics – and maybe even food too!
Three Bowls, Porcelain, by Kenta Takaki
Kamisara (Paper Plates) Porcelain, by Kenta Takaki
Kenta Takaki Throwing an Amakusa Porcelain Vessel
