Kei Kajita's cute style is very popular in our store. We visited the workshop in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture and heard about it. (Updated December 28, 2021)
Just by looking at it, you can't help but feel ''cute!'' '' Ms. Kajita's lovely style makes your cheeks smile. All the works with shortcake as a motif look delicious! In fact, it seems that he was a pastry chef for about 6 years in her previous job.
“As a pâtissier, I was making sweets. While working, I was also absorbed in contests for Western sweets. You can freely make dolls by coloring them with sweets. There are prefectural and national competitions, and I submit them every year.”
Marzipan processing combines small parts to express human feelings, animals, landscapes, etc. You may have seen Santa and dolls on top of cakes. In Europe, it is often eaten as it is, and it is rooted in the culture of the land, and there are also unique shapes. Many of them are very elaborately made, are these sweets? I am often surprised. Ms. Kajita is also a talented person who has won awards in various competitions with her marzipan work.
“There are a lot of similarities between making sweets and pottery, especially marzipan, which is close to the feel of clay, so I think I felt a sense of familiarity.”
From a pastry chef making sweets to a potter. Her first encounter with pottery was when he happened to stop by a shop in Tokyo that sold Kasama ware. Until then, the image of ``pottery = ugly'' was a big one, but the shop had a lot of cutely painted vessels such as animals and flowers, and in a way it shocked me. that's right. Then, I heard that a certain artist I knew there was exhibiting in Kasama, and had the opportunity to actually talk to the creator.
My first encounter with a person called a potter. ``It's exactly as I imagined it from the vessel, and the work shows the personality of the person directly,'' he said. From there, Kajita's Kasama commute begins.
“Until then, I thought that a potter could only be a potter whose parent was a potter, or someone who had graduated from an art university. I realized that there are a lot of people out there, so I thought I might be able to make use of my experience working in ceramics.”
It seems that the transformation was instantaneous. When I learned that there was a school where I could learn pottery in Kasama, I decided to go to Kasama University. When I talk to Ms. Kajita, her style expresses Ms. Kajita's individuality, just like what she says. He's a very cute and honest person, so I'm sure he was loved by many people, and I thought that the road would naturally open up for her.
I visited Mr. Kajita's workshop in Kasama
The works of Ms. Kajita, who is a new writer but has attracted many fans with her unique and cute world view. I also visited the studio and talked about future production.
“I was always scolded by the teachers at Kasama Ceramic Art College,” says Kajita. There was a style that she wanted to create no matter what, and it seems that he had a hard time with the school assignment. 
It seems that the current studio is a property with ``success in career'', and it seems that all the artists who lived before Ms. Kajita were successful and moved to a property with a larger production space. .
Her favorite kiln is an electric kiln. 
''I got here by luck. Ms. Kajita says, "I want to make it." When you look at the workshop, you can see that the attitude towards production is very stoic and hard work.
I was just in the middle of making an adorable animal piece. 
Motifs and shapes that suit each type of animal, we carefully monitor the market reaction and make changes so that we can bring it closer to something that will please the user. In addition, we plan to handle this animal product next time at our store, so please look forward to it. 
Well, here's an introduction to the works I'm dealing with!
Everyone loves shortcake. After all, I wanted to try a combination!
You will be drawn into the world view that seems to have slipped out of the page of a picture book.
The soil uses porcelain soil, and the kiln is made with an electric kettle. Since it is decorated, please refrain from microwave ovens and dishwashers.
Be careful not to be too cute and unintentionally jump!
With the thought that the person who uses it will feel happy and bright.
It seems that he is trying to make himself in a healthy state both physically and mentally when producing.
“Since it is a three-dimensional object, it may be difficult to stack it or handle it, but I would be happy if you could decorate it and store it, and enjoy the vessel from a new perspective.” and Ms. Kajita.
In the future, she said that he would like to increase the types of large dishes and large items such as pots. I'm sure Kajita-san's world will continue to produce lovely works. I'm looking forward to your continued success!
