We had the good fortune to sit with John Dix, legendary potter and long-time resident of Japan. In this episode, John graciously shares some experiences from his childhood and talks about his travels and career.

John Dix was born in 1960 in Flint Michigan, US. He studied a BA in Liberal Arts at Albion College in Michigan. After this time, between 1983-1986 he was an apprentice potter in several different workshops.

Since 1989, John has spent the last 30 of his 40 years woking with clay in Japan, where he still lives and works. This has led to works that show a strong Japanese influence but still retain elements of his early training in the West. In 1995, John met David Jack and Sachiko Matsunaga. They were starting a rural studies foundation in the area of Japan called Tamba, an ancient pottery region. With their support John was able to build an Anagama kiln. The place has developed into Fieldwork Japan with facilities for people to come and experience rural Japan through pottery.

Topics covered in this Episode 32 can be further explored via the links below.

City of Flint – https://www.cityofflint.com/ 

Albion College – https://www.albion.edu/ 

Six Ancient Kilns (Web Japan) – https://web-japan.org/trends/11_food/jfd202112_six-ancient-kilns.html 

Seto and Takanome (aichi-now.jp) – https://www.aichi-now.jp/en/omotenashiaichi/column_detail/8/

Anagama (Wikipedia) – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagama_kiln 

Noborigama (Discover Japan) – https://www.discovertajimi.com/noborigama.html 

John Dix – https://www.johndix.com/