1938-
male
kutani porcelain
living national treasure
Born to a family with generations of gold leaf Kutani ware artists, he worked as a pottery artist apprentice under his grandfather after the early death of his father, and succeeded the three generation Kinzangama workshop in 1951.
He was first selected to the Ishikawa Prefecture Art Exhibition in 1964, and flourished in many shows thereafter, appearing at the Issuikai Exhibition in 1978, being displayed at the Japan Industrial Arts Exhibition in 1974, winning the Issuikai award in 1978, receiving the 1982 member award, honorable mention at the 1984 Japan Industrial Arts Exhibition, being awarded the Takamatsunomiya memorial award in 1992, and recieving the Important Intangible Cultural Heritage award in 2000.
Other awards in that time also include honorable mention at Chunichi International Ceramics Exhibition in 1984 and 1985, Award of Excellence at the 1992 15th Traditional Kutani Ware Industrial Arts Exhibition, Intangible Cultural Asset nomination by Ishikawa prefecture, etc.
Furthermore, in 2001 he was awarded the purple ribbon Japanese Medal of Honor, and designated a living national treasure for his Yurikinsai gold underpainting technique. The years around his designation as a living national treasure are marked by many brilliant successes such as the Northern Province Cultural Award, the Ishikawa Prefecture Cultural Merit Award, the 2002 Komatsu City Cultural Award, the 2003 Ishikawa Television Award, etc.
Although he started by producing gold leaf Kutani wares under the guidance of his grandfather, he gradually deepened his study of Yurikinsai to find his own artistic style, creating pieces by applying yellow, blue, violet, etc. glazing to gold leaf. In recent years, he has been enhancing his formality and artistry by completing works embellished with an elegant grey glazed platinum leaf, as well as pieces finished with a thin gold glaze and layered with gold and platinum leaf.
