Harada Kazuya, Japan’s Master Daiza CarverAn Interview with Japan's Leading Daiza Carver
By Thomas S. Elias, February, 2020
Viewing stone connoisseurs in Japan have long recognized the importance of a quality daiza (carved wood base) to hold, orient and help convey the impressions of an outstanding stone. Many of these knowledgeable collectors turn to one person, Harada Kazuya, when they need an excellent base made for a superior stone. He is now regarded as the premier hardwood base carver in his native country and the quality of his subtle understated bases stands out in a major stone exhibition in Japan. But this quiet unassuming wood carver is not well known outside of Japan. My curiosity about this man and the processes he uses to make exquisite bases took us to Nagoya in Aichi prefecture where he lives and works. With the help of Tom Nishiyama, Nippon Suiseki Association board member, Hiromi and I visited and interviewed Harada in July and again in November 2019 at his workshop in the suburbs of Nagoya. We took him a rare and beautiful piece of black botryoidal jade (13.5 cm wide, 9.5 cm high & 7 cm deep) from northern California and asked him to make a base for it.
For many years, Harada made bases exclusively for suiseki dealers in Nagoya. He started making them in the mid-1970s when he was twenty-five years old. He is now sixty-six. The dealers needed someone local to make bases for them and were able to persuade him to become a craftsman. His father practiced bonsai and was a ceramicist making bonsai pots and excellent suiban (ceramic trays) for displaying stones. This father and son combination produced these key components for the rapidly growing number of suiseki hobbyists in this region at that time. There were several stone dealers in Nagoya in the late 1970s, but he worked primarily for the two main shops in that city. One of them was Tanigawa-en, the largest shop, and the second one was run by Mr. Nakono, but Harada couldn’t remember the name of his business. The number of dealers slowly decreased over several decades due to the steady decline in the number of hobbyists until the last shop closed. By this time, Harada had begun to make bases for individual collectors. Today, he carves bases mainly for individual collectors in Japan; however, some of the remaining stone dealers located in other regions come to him to have bases made for their higher valued stones.
Harada learned to carve bases on his own and did not study or apprentice with a professional wood worker. He told us that in the 1970s and 1980s he would attend meetings of the stone dealers where he learned from them what was needed in a base. He specialized in making higher quality bases using better quality wood rather than in making more lower quality bases using soft woods. This practice and his wood working and finishing skills contributed greatly to his reputation. Today, Harada makes roughly 100 bases each year. He uses rosewood almost exclusively and usually takes about three days to make a base depending upon how many layers of lacquer are required. He prefers to apply three hand rubbed layers, one each day, to obtain the satin smooth finish that he is so well known for. This lacquer is a sumac-based thick cream made in China.
When preparing to make a base for a stone, Harada first slowly and carefully studies the stone to determine the front and the best orientation. Typically, he places the stone on a turning table. He uses small wood wedges under a stone to obtain the proper angles for display. If the stone has a more rounded bottom, he uses one of several circular rings of wood he made for temporarily holding a stone in a particularly position. He then marks the stone with white chalk. That is, he makes a line across the lower portion of the stone to indicate where the approximate top of the base will reach. He also uses small pieces of yellow tape on the stone to help mark the final angle of the stone in a base. It is truly an educational experience to sit with Harada and go through this process. I have done this three times with Harada and each time; I was learning new things about base making.
Harada completes the first rough cutting and shaping the rosewood block using power tools in a specially constructed box in front of his small wood working studio. It is outdoors to minimize the amount of wood dust inside his wood shop. He then takes the partially completed form inside where he uses small hand chisels to complete the finer details of the base. The initial sanding is done outdoors in a box he constructed to collect dust. This is equipped with an exhaust fan that deposits the dust in a smaller holding box.
Once the final sanding is finished, he adds his characteristic mark to the bottom of the base. After this, he is ready to treat the wood base. He prefers to use a Chinese made lacquer cream that is hand rubbed on the wood. This lacquer comes from sap of the Chinese lacquer tree, Toxicodendron vernicifluum. The collected sap can be dried and the ground into a fine powder and dyed to make lacquer for craftsmen and artists. It is clear in color but is often dyed red or black to give the characteristic lacquerware associated with China and Japan. This genus of plants also contains poison ivy and poison oak which cause moderate to severe skin rashes. Harada wears rubber gloves when he applies this cream because he has developed a sensitivity to the natural chemicals found in this lacquer. He hand rubs each application of this lacquer.
Since he only makes a limited number of bases each year and he usually has a back log of requests, it normally takes about one to three months to have a base made. He does not have a web site or use email; thus, he does not receive or ship stones and newly made bases to other countries. It is best to work through an intermediate stone friend in Japan to have him make a base. His price to make a base depends upon how much wood is needed and if you want one, two or three layers of lacquer. Even with three layers of lacquer, his prices are very comparable or even less expensive than base carvers in other countries.
Harada Kazuya is one of the finest remaining craftsmen specializing in making outstanding Japanese style, custom-made bases to display extraordinary stones. He takes great pride in carefully matching a base to a stone. Harada is keenly aware that a beautifully made but subtle understated base can greatly enhance a stone and its value. Having a Harada-made base in your viewing stone collection is an indicator of a stone connoisseur.
