Ishin denshin or : talking through silence

Newsletter #1

photo N.Cohen

Experience without words

At Sasaki Kyoshitsu’s workshop, we barely talk. Our main communication channels are hands, looks and practice. Simple laughter also.
The Japanese people call that ishin denshin (以心伝心) : « what the mind think, the heart conveys ». That is non-verbal communication, implicit exchange — i.e. the hypothesis that we mutually understand each other.

But is there any need to talk ? After the first explanations, each of us is alone in front of his workbench and sitting cross-legged (for those who can stand such a position for a long time)…facing the mountain out of the workshop.


And then, the work begins, it is repetitive. Most of the time, no unique piece is made. I do « unique » pieces because I am unable to give the same shape to the clay each time. It comes only with a lot of time and practice. There is no real industrial method here. And the potter’s experience might give him something far greater than industrial reproduction because the craftsman will then know how to reproduce the item but also the spirit with which it is made. Sasaki said to me once that his state of mind changes with the tea bowl he makes.

Silence and its hands


photo N.CohenOn my side, I must start with very small (re)productions. I make thirthy gourds that serve as chopsticks pillows. Then I make four tea bowls using one clay, then four using another one, then again four with a third one. These are my first tasks and I fulfil them feeling like an anemic Herakles that must carry out his « twelve bowls ». 

The three clays all look alike before they are fired, but it is only true for the eye. In the palm of the hand, their texture are totally different. Sasaki is silent : he has his own task to fulflil and giving me guidance already takes a lot of his time. 

I have my own experiences to make. I shut up. I could say anything, but only the result matters here. I am not in this workshop to learn how to understand each other…coming from a philosophy background, it sometimes feels strange.


But maybe we do understand each other, in a way that I scarcely ever practiced before. That is ishin denshin 以心伝心I guess. Does my heart transmit what I think ? But then I wonder : what do my hands say ?




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