Mr. Seiji Ito, a teapot artisan in Tokoname, entered the world of pottery at the age of 20 and initially was engaged mainly in making teacups. When the growth momentum of the high economic growth period began to slow down, he steered towards the production and sales of teapots which has a higher added value and more difficult to create compared with teacups. “A teapot in the world of tea is like t...

Eifu Kawamata is the 4th generation of “Okeei” who inherited the manufacturing of the Edo wooden tub since the Meiji era. He did not aspire to become an artisan when he was a child, but he started to have an interest in art and the Japanese culture during his university days. After graduating from university, he worked in the usual corporation, but in 1985 he started to walk the path of an artisan...

Ms. Eiko Tanaka, a woodworking artisan was born in the city of Anjo, Aichi Prefecture. During her childhood days, she was attracted by handicraft and was good with her hands such as doing crafts and sewing. Influenced by her parents who liked art appreciation, she found herself absorbed in the coloration of Japanese traditional lacquer which are “red, black and gold” and wanted to lear...

Yasuko Kamochi and Yumiko Tanaka are in charge of “etsuke” (decorative painting) at Fukujugama in Arita, Saga Prefecture. Even in Arita, which is the famed historical area of porcelain, there are few artisans specializing in etsuke at the present time. Yasuko joined Fukujugama because her sister worked there too. At that time, Arita ware was in high demand. Etsuke is a finely divided work where ea...

Takeyoshi Mitsui is from Hiroshima Prefecture. He likes drawing and craft class and physical education since he was a child. From his interest in manufacturing, he majored in crafts in university where he developed an interest in glass making which he felt was the most complicated and difficult to produce. Subsequently, he found a job in a glass studio in Toyama Prefecture. He was able to create h...

Mr. Masanori Soejima is a glass craftsman who carries the next generation of Soejima glassware who excels at free-blown glass without using any mold. And this type of glass called “Hizen Vidro” is unique to the area of Saga. After studying glass making at the university and joining his family business, Mr. Soejima have learned techniques watching his father and seniors. The forming process of free...

Mr. Kosuke Fujimoto was born as the eldest son in the family of Fujimaki Seitou Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of Arita ware. After graduating from university, he began his apprenticeship in pottery manufacturing in Kyoto. Subsequently, he returned to Arita and started his career as a ceramic artist. During the 4 years of his activity as an artist, he held solo exhibitions in Tokyo and that experience ...

Mr. Masahide Shioji is the third head of the family of “Tohachiya” which is a manufacturer and vendor of Wajima lacquerware, called “Nushiya” in the region. After graduating from university, he began his apprenticeship to take over the family business and gradually he became devoted to the works of artisans. However, his father told him to do works related to being a merchant, not an artisan as he...

Mr. Shusaku Yamamoto and Ryosaku Yamamoto were born into a family of pottery artists of Bizen ware. Their late grandfather, Mr. Toshu Yamamoto was a human national treasure and their father, Mr. Izuru Yamamoto is the holder of Okayama Prefecture-designated important intangible cultural property. For them, pottery was as ordinary as air that it was not a subject of their interests. However, they ha...

Mr. Yoshiyasu Harada and his wife Ayako are leading Kichiemon Porcelain Co., Ltd.in Arita. Mrs. Harada is from Gunma Prefecture and learnt textile and dyes in an art school in Tokyo. After marrying Mr. Harada, she moved to Arita, the region in which she had always been interested for its tradition of pottery and the life in its close community. With the growth of her attachment to the town, she ha...

The president of Tokko Kiln, Mr. Hiroyuki Tokunaga was born in 1974. He majored in history at the university and was thinking about continuing his study to be a researcher but the last words of his late grandfather who said, “Pottery is more fun than you would expect”, had remained in his heart and it prompted him to succeed the family business. His younger brother Eijiro, is a pottery thrower.  E...

Leather and dye craft artist, Mr. Kenichi Harada had worked as a camera assistant after studying fashion design in Tokyo. He subsequently got a position in the design division of an electronics company where he was taking care of photography of the products. Around that time, he experienced a technical transition in the field of photography from film to digital and that circumstance made him recon...