mingei

Takeuchi Seijiro 武内晴二郎

1921-1979maleBorn in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. His father was the first director of the Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki, and Seijiro grew up with art and art from an early age. He went on to study at the Faculty of Economics at Chuo University, but was mobilised as a student and enlisted in the army. He lost his left arm in China, but after being demobilised he began making pottery in his home town of Kurashiki and built his own kiln in 1960. Influenced by the leading figures of the craft movement, such as Yanagi Soetsu, Hamada Shoji and Kawai (more…)

Okishio Haruki 沖塩明樹

?-2002male1948 Studied under Ogawara Torakichi, who was described by Shoji Hamada as “the best wheel grinder in Japan”.1953 Trained at the Tamba Tachikake Kiln, during which time he also attended the kiln of Kawai Kanjiro.1957 Became head of the crafts department at Tobe-yuko company.1960 Involved in the founding of the Sakatsu Tsutsumi Kiln, working as an assistant.1964 Opened the Kurashiki Minato Kiln in Sakatsu, Kurashiki City.1983 Opened the Kanpu-haruki Kiln in Ushimado Town, Setouchi City, where Sue ware was produced in the 8th century.2001 Kurashiki Folk Art Museum publishes ‘The Work of Okishio Haruki’.2002 Passed away. (more…)

Funaki Michitada 舩木道忠

1900-1963malefujina potteryBorn in Fujina (now Tamayu Town), Shimane Prefecture. Graduated from the Western-style painting department of Tokyo Fine Arts School.Holds the Shimane Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property Shibuna-yaki Technique (1962)BiographyBorn into a family that runs the Funaki Heibei Kiln, a Fujina ware kiln. After studying Western-style painting at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, he returned home to take over the family business and became a potter. In the early Showa period (1926-1989), he participated in Yanagi Soetsu’s folk art movement, and was inspired by Hamada Shoji and Bernard Leach, and devoted himself to his work. He aspired (more…)

Funaki Kenji 船木研児

1927-maleBorn in Shimane prefecture. Dropped out of the Shimane Normal School, followed his father, Michitada in creating ceramics, and participated in the Mingei Movement led by Yanagi Muneyoshi and Kawai Kanjiro. Later studied under Hamada Shoji and Bernard Leach. Kokuga Association Award. Japan Folk Crafts Museum Award. Japan Ceramics Society Award and more. Held solo exhibitions at various Mitsukoshi stores including Nihonbashi and Osaka. Various skills such as straw painting, finger painting, color glaze, and mud painting. (more…)

Funaki Kuniharu 舟木邦治

1948-malefujina potteryBorn in Matsue city, Shimane. Was attracted to the Minto Fujina-ware around the Sanin area, and became an apprentice to Funaki Kenji. Completed the Prefectural Industrial Examination. Became independent in 1975 at a county in the Shimane prefecture. Moved to Hokkaido in 1979 and spent two years there. Held solo exhibitions around the Kansai area. Works mainly with color glaze dyeing, slipware, and Inbande. deep plate 1,000 JPY 島根県鹿足郡津和野町直地67 (more…)

Suzuki Shigeo 鈴木繁男

1914-2003maleBorn in Shizuoka Prefecture. He was attracted by Yanagi Soetsu’s ”Kogei Biron”, theory of craft aesthetics, and was introduced to Soetsu in 1935. In 1937, he studied design under Serizawa Keisuke. In 1953, he became an assistant to Bernard Leach in Kutani, and in 1960, he built a kiln in Iwata, and was in charge of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum exhibition at the Osaka World’s Fair. Director of the museum. Focuses on overglaze red enamel decoration and blue and white. (more…)

Nakagawa Isaku 中川伊作

1899-2000maleGraduated from Kyoto City University of Arts in 1921.Since then, he has produced works as a printmaker, and in 1931, exhibited his works at the Japan Print Roadshow organized by the Ministry of Education, and displayed his works at such art museums as the Louvre, and those in Madrid, London, and New York.He is also known as a collector of Nanban-ware, and in 1938 he exhibited 100 collections at the Kyoto National Museum, which caught the eye of Yanagi Soetsu, who was promoting folk art, and led to Hamada Shoji and others to visit Okinawa. After returning from the United (more…)

Watanabe Sunao 渡辺すなお

1952-maleshiraiwa potteryGraduated from Iwate University Special Fine Arts Department. Made ceramics with the aim of reviving Shiraiwa-yaki, also known as Shiraiwa-Seto from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji era. Inheriting the tradition of Tohoku folk pottery, sea cucumber glaze is mainly used for scraping and other decorations.In 1974, the late Shoji Hamada, who visited Akita to research Shiraiwa-yaki during the Edo period, said, “The sea squirt glaze that is characteristic of Shiraiwa-yaki is the best, although similar glazes are used in many places today,” and Sunao has continued his research for over 30 years (more…)

Morioka Hiroshi 森岡宏

1947-malebizen potteryBorn in Kanagawa Prefecture. Inspired by Mingei-undo, the folk art movement, of Yanagi Soetsu, Hamada Shoji, and others, he began training in Saga, Yamaguchi, Shikoku, and Kyoto in 1964, and later moved to Bizen, where he became independent in 1974. (more…)

Mizuno Hanjiro 6th 六代 水野半次郎

1926-?maleseto potteryBorn into the family business: the Hongyo Kiln of Seto. Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Chuo University. Studied under Yanagi Soetsu. Recipient of Japan Folk Crafts Museum Folk Crafts Exhibition Award, Honorable Mention, Japan Ceramics Exhibition Mainichi Newspaper Award. Noborigama climbing kiln was designated a Seto cultural property in 1977. Primarily focused on sansai, blue dyeing, iron glaze, kizeto. (more…)

Matsui Seizan 松井晴山

1932-malemoriyama potteryFrom Mori, Shizuoka. Studied under his father Seizan and carried on the family business. Worked on Moriyama ware with tiger stripe patterns and Kizeto ware. Felt the essence of craft are when Hamada Shoji and Yanagi Soetsu visited the kiln and reevaluated the old Shitoro ware. Selected for the Asahi Ceramic Exhibition, Prefectural Exhibition, and other exhibitions and won awards. (more…)

Tomimoto Kenkichi 富本憲吉

1886-1963maleliving national treasureAfter graduating from Tokyo School of Fine Arts’ Design Department, he gained the favor of Howard Leach, thus starting his aspirations to become a ceramic artist. The following year, he opened his own kiln in his hometown of Ando City.He began with a focus on hand-molden earthenware replicas and other earthenware, then proceeded to research Japanese antique kilns such as those of Shigaraki and Seto. Further, he traveled to Korea and included Joseon dynasty pottery molding in his works. In 1927, he moved his kiln to Soshigaya, Tokyo, and had his works featured the following year in 1928 (more…)

Kawai Kanjiro 河井寛次郎

1890-1966maleAfter graduating from Tokyo Higher Polytechnical School, Kawai worked and studied at the Kyoto Research Institute for Ceramics. In 1920, he built his own independent kiln in Gojozaka (inherited from Kiyomizu Rokubey V), and married Tsune Kawai (née Mikami Yasu) the same year.His first ceramics exhibition was held the following year at Tokyo’s Takashimaya Department Store. From the beginning, he studied ancient Chinese and Korean ceramics, and was highly praised for developing pieces with ever more unique molds, but he held doubts about his style, and temporarily ceased to make pottery. It was around this time he was introduced to (more…)

Kato Tokuro 加藤唐九郎

1896-1985malemino potteryKato Tokuro was born the eldest son of Seto potter Kano Sojiro, and as a child displayed a talent for painting in the Nanga style, for composing Chinese poetry, as well as for ceramics, which he practiced under his father. In 1914, he was granted partial rights to his father’s round kiln, marking the start of his own kiln construction and ceramics.In 1918, he married Kato Kinu and took the family name Kato.He devoted himself to surveying the old Seto kilns and researching traditional Seto techniques, allowing him to reproduce Shino and Oribe ware. In 1929, he founded the (more…)

Ikuta Kazutaka 生田和孝

1927-1982maletamba potterySought to be a potter in 1947 and received instruction from Kawai Takekazu from Fujihira kiln in Kyoto. Also apprenticed under Kawai Kanjiro in 1951 and studied folk ceramic crafts. Returned home temporarily in 1955 but moved to Konda, Hyogo the following year to study Tamba ware techniques under Ichino Toshio. Started a Tamba-style climbing kiln in 1959.Later established a style by adding folk craft arrangements to the base of Tamba ware. Stood out for use of Nuka-yu glaze and Ame-yu glaze with warm colors.Main awards received include the Minister of Education’s Award at the Japan Ceramic Exhibition for (more…)

Ono Shinya 尾野晋也

1940–2018malesodeshi potteryHe is the 4th generation to inherit the legacy of Matsue ware (Sodeshi ware) originally founded by Ono Tomoichi. His father, Ono Toshiro, who was the 3rd generation joined the folk art movement after being influenced by Yanagi Muneyoshi, Bernard Howell Leach, and Hamada Shoji, changing their style to focus on folk crafts and becoming a proponent of “Aesthetics in Daily Use Items” which combined utility with beauty. (more…)

Aragaki Eizaburo 新垣栄三郎

1921-1984maletsuboya potteryBorn to Aragaki Eitoku V of the pottery family who creates Ryukyu ware in Tsuboya, Naha, Okinawa, he was familiar with pottery from childhood and received guidance from Hamada Shoji and Kawai Kanjiro, who had come to observe the folk art movement in 1939.After graduating from Taichung Normal School in Taiwan in 1941, he worked in an elementary school in Shimane Prefecture. After the war, he worked in his hometown’s Tsuboya Elementary School from 1947 to 1954.Following this, he began to devote himself to pottery, and received high praise at a number of exhibitions, including the National Artists’ Association (more…)

Aragaki Isao 新垣勲

1944-2018maletsuboya pottery7th Generation Ryukyu Pottery, Tsuboya Ware, Potter.In his grandfather Arakai Eitoku’s time, Yanagi Muneyoshi and Hamada Shoji became friends when visiting Okinawa, and from then on began producing works that crossed folk art style design with Ryukyu ware.He received the Oki Exhibition Honorable Mention in 1964 and from 1966 through 1969, and the Oki Exhibition Award in 1970 and 1971, and he was nominated as a member of the Okinawa Exhibition Association in 1977. He won the Rookie of the Year Award from the Exhibition Ceramics Club of the National Artists’ Association in 1973, received the Minister of International (more…)

Hamada Shoji 濱田庄司

1894-1978malemashiko potteryliving national treasureHamada Shoji was a renowned craftsman and representative figure in modern Japanese pottery. Born in Tokyo in 1894, he resolved to become a potter while still a student at Furitsuicchu (the Tokyo First Prefectural Jr. High School, Hibiya high school at present). After studying ceramics at the Tokyo Higher Technical School (present-day Tokyo Institute of Technology), Hamada joined the Kyoto Municipal Ceramic Laboratory, where he would meet his lifelong friend, Kawai Kanjiro. As Hamada later summarized the narrative arc of his career, “I found the path in Kyoto, began my journey in England, studied in Okinawa, and (more…)

Bernard Leach

1887-1979maleAfter losing his mother as a baby, Leach spent his early childhood in Kyoto raised by his father, a Japanese resident.He later returned to England, but came back to Japan in 1909 aged 21. Connecting with writers and artists from the Shirakaba Group, he was especially friendly with Yanagi Soetsu, and became captivated by ceramics. He began studying ceramics under Ogata Kenzan the 6th, producing Raku ware and so on.He endeavored in pottery techniques at Hamada Shoji’s Mashiko kiln base, became acquainted with Kawai Kanjiro and participated with him in Yanagi’s mingei movement. In 1920 he returned to England accompanied (more…)

Fujina pottery 布志名焼

Fujina ware is pottery made in the Fujina area in Tamayu Town, Shimane Prefecture. It is believed that Fujina ware originated in 1750, when Funaki Yojibei Muramasa established a kiln in Fujina.Later on, in 1780, Tsuchiya Zenshiro Yoshikata (current Uzen kiln) left Rakuzan ware and moved to Fujina as a domain-appointed pottery instructor, and established the first official kiln under the orders of Matsudaira Harusato (Lord Fumai), tea master and feudal lord of the Matsue Domain.With the start of the Meiji era, the domain stopped supporting the kiln, so they had to become independent as a private kiln. They made (more…)

Ushinoto pottery 牛ノ戸焼

Ushinoto ware is pottery made in Kawahara Town, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture. Ushinoto ware was founded by Kanekawa Toshichi (born in Tottori) between 1830-1844. In 1837, the Kobayashi Umegoro family, who came from Iwami, Gotsu Town, Shimane Prefecture, succeeded Ushinoto ware. They established an Ushinoto kiln in Ushinoto, Kawahara Town, Tottori Prefecture.After that, the Ushinoto kiln was succeeded by Kobayashi Kumasaburo, the second-generation head, and Kobayashi Hidenosuke, the third-generation head. They mainly produced everyday pottery (water pots, sake bottles, mortars and pestles). However, their business gradually declined, and it became difficult to continue in the era of the fourth-generation head, (more…)

Kokuji pottery 小久慈焼

Kokuji ware is pottery made in Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture. Kokuji ware started in 1818–1829 in the Edo period, when the founder, Kumagai Jin’emon, trained under Kazo, a potter from Soma. After that, Jin’emon acquired his mentor’s techniques. He discovered clay in the area, created his own glaze, and made tea utensils.In the Meiji era, He was acknowledged by Yanagi Muneyoshi, but his performance gradually declined. In 1953, with the efforts of Kuji City, they merged the three kilns that were barely managing, and established the Kokuji ware pottery workshop, represented by Shimodake Takeshi. The place was restored and still (more…)

Koishiwara pottery 小石原焼

Koishiwara ware is pottery made in Toho Village, Asakura District, Fukuoka Prefecture. They mainly make everyday items. Koishiwara ware started in 1682, when Kuroda Mitsuyuki invited potters from Imari and established a kiln. It was the first area to produce pottery in Chikuho.It is known for its unique geometrical patterns that are made using hakeme, tobikanna, and kushikaki. They often use a raw glazing technique, which means they pour the glaze without bisque firing. This technique later reached Onta ware in Hita City, Oita Prefecture, which is why Onta ware and Koishiwara ware are similar. Bernard Leach, who significantly changed (more…)

Sodeshi pottery 袖師焼

Sodeshi ware is pottery made in Sodeshi Town, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. Sodeshi ware started when Ono Tomoichi established a kiln and made everyday items in 1877, after training in Fujinaya, Rakuzan, and Hoeizan.In 1893, the second-generation head, Iwajiro, moved to the current kiln site at the coast of Lake Shinji in Sodeshinoura, where surface mail was regularly used at the time, and built five climbing kilns. After Iwajiro visited and investigated places that work in the ceramic industry including Kyoto, Seto, and Arita, he created elegant pottery, which has a different appearance than traditional Fujina ware, and named it (more…)

Onta pottery 小鹿田焼

Onta ware is pottery made in Onta village, which lies in the center of Sarayama, a valley in Hita City, Oita Prefecture. They use many techniques including “Tobikanna,” “Uchi Hakeme,” “Yubikaki,” “Kushikaki,” “Uchikake,” and “Nagashikake.” Those pottery techniques were designated as Important Intangible Cultural Property of the country in 1995, and in March 2008, the whole village was selected as an Important Cultural Landscape under the name of “Onta Pottery Village.”They refrain from adding personal marks on their own ceramic pieces, which resiliently preserves folk pottery, thus many of their products come with the distributor’s label on them. Onta ware (more…)

Ono Toshiro 尾野敏郎

1903-1995malesodeshi potteryBorn in Shimane Prefecture. He studied under Yanagi Soetsu, Kawai Kanjiro, and Hamada Shoji, and later went to England with Bernard Leach. In 1942, he was designated by the government to preserve the Sodeshi kiln technique. He received the Grand Prix at the Brussels World Exposition. He held an exhibition at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo in 1970 to commemorate his 50th year in the pottery business. He is a leading figure in folk pottery. (more…)

Sakazu pottery 酒津焼

Pottery from Okayama PrefectureIn 1869, Okamoto Suekichi, who was a powerful figure in Sakazu, Kurashiki City, invited potters from all over the country to the kiln he had set up, to produce things like receptacles for daily use, tableware and sake cups.From the latter half of the Meiji era to the Taisho era, it flourished tremendously at its base in the Chugoku region, and in the Showa era, under the guidance of potters from pro-folk art groups such as Hamada Shoji and Bernard Leach, it developed into a folk art kiln, and continues to this day. (more…)

Kinjo Jiro 金城次郎

1912- 2004maletsuboya potteryliving national treasureBorn in Naha. Began working with ceramics at the age of 13, studying under Hamada Shoji. Later apprenticed at a kiln-equipped shop that produced ceramics typically representative of Okinawa. Went independent in 1972. Certified as a prefectural intangible cultural technology property holder for Okinawan ceramics. Recipient of the Okinawa Times Art Award, Japan Folk Art Museum Award, Kokugakai Exhibition Excellence Award, Modern Master Craftsman Exhibition Labor Minister’s Award, many others. Permanent installation at the Romanian National Folk Art Museum. Exhibited at the Japan Ceramics Masters Exhibition. The Okinawa Crafts Exhibition (sponsored by the National Museum of (more…)

Ota Kumao 太田熊雄

1912-1992malekoishiwara potteryHe was born in Koishiwara, the ancient home of Japanese folk pottery. He was influenced by Yanagi Muneyoshi and Hamada Shoji and devoted to folk art. Awarded the Kyusyu-Yamaguchi Folk Art Exhibition Association Prize, the Minister of Education’s Award at the Prefectural Exhibition, the Brussels Expo Grand Prix, the Japan Folk Art Museum Prize, and others. He has served as a judge of the Japan Folk Art Museum. (more…)

Mashiko pottery 益子焼

It is generally agreed upon that Mashiko ware originated towards the end of the Edo period, in the year 1853 (Kaei 6). It was then that Keisaburo Otsuka, having learned the art of pottery in the city of Kasama, Ibaraki, traveled from what is now the town of Motegi, Tochigi to the town of Mashiko, where he discovered potter’s clay and first lit his kiln.The pottery industry continued to develop through the Meiji period, taking advantage of the bounties of the land to achieve Kanto-wide distribution of its wares. Around the same time, teapots decorated with simple landscape paintings were (more…)

Abe Yuko 阿部祐工

1924-maleBorn in Ehime, Japan. Graduated from the Nihon University College of Art. Studied under Hamada Shoji. Later, and later trained in Saijo, Tobe, and Bizen. He has participated in the research for the folk art of Tobe ware along with Yanagi Soetsu, Bernard Leach, and Hazama Shoji. Established a kiln in Kawachi-gama in Kitakyushu in 1969 and in Yawata in 1966. A leading figure in folk pottery and a member of the National Painting Society. (more…)