Potter in Japan Concerned That Iran War Is Destroying Persian Culture

By Atsushi Iwasa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

14:10 JST, March 30, 2026

TAJIMI, Gifu — “People can overcome differences in religion and language and recognize each other’s pride,” said Kobei Kato, a potter who has maintained cultural ties with Iran.

As the war in Iran spreads to other parts of the Middle East, the 80-year-old potter in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, is deeply saddened by the current situation in which such values are being destroyed.

Kato is the seventh-generation head of Kobeigama pottery workshop, which dates back to the Edo period (1603-1867). He also works to preserve the techniques of Lusterware, an ancient Persian ceramic art form.

Lusterware, which has an iridescent sheen, originated in the ninth century in Mesopotamia and spread throughout the Persian region around the 12th century. However, it disappeared around the 18th century.

His father, the Living National Treasure Takuo (1917-2005), worked to bring the technique back after studying and researching at archaeological sites, and Kato learned the technique from him.

While creating his own lusterware works, Kato has continued to provide technical instructions and engage in cultural exchanges with Iranian potters.

He said he felt like he had to return the technique back to Iran.

In 2019, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Tehran, Kato and his Iranian apprentices donated lusterware walls to an Iranian museum.

“Cultures, which people take pride in, possess universality,” Kato said. “They have the power to inspire mutual respect and admiration among people from different backgrounds and to overcome their differences.”

The creation of lusterware works declined due to the Mongolian invasion in the 13th century.

It has been reported that the latest U.S. and Israeli attacks have damaged the Golestan Palace, a World Heritage site in Tehran.

Kato is trying to restore historic buildings in Iran through training Iranian potters.

“Before, war devasted Persian culture,” Kato said. “But the historical lessons have not been learned, and now this war has erupted.”

Kato believes cultural properties are the “physical form of the sweat nurtured by people throughout history” and has connected Japan and Iran through cultural exchanges.

He said it is absolutely unacceptable that the “wisdom of humanity” — the ability to recognize each other through cultural exchanges — is destroyed by acts of war, which “imposes one’s own values on others.”