Japanese potters

Raku Kichizaemon 14th Kakunyu 十四代 楽吉左衛門 覚入

1918-1980maleraku potteryBorn as the eldest son of thirteenth generation Raku master Seinyu, his birth name was Yoshihisa but was later changed to Sokichi. He graduated from the Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts) with a degree in sculpture in 1940. Afterwards, he returned to his home province, and with his father having already passed away the year prior, he inherited the mantle of Kichizaemon at the age of 28. Upon returning home, Kakunyu had to reestablish the Raku family and begin making pottery literally on his own. It was after 1955 that Kakunyu is thought to (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 13th Seinyu 十三代 楽吉左衛門 惺入

1887-1944maleraku potteryBorn as the eldest son of Konyu who was 12th generation in his family. His birth name was Sokichi, and he was later renamed Yoshihide. In 1919, he succeeded the family at age 33 after Konyu retired. In 1944, he died without retiring at age 58. Seinyu loved tea ceremony from the bottom of his heart and worked hard for the prosperity of the culture of the tea ceremony. He published a series of research journals on tea ceremony called “Sado seseragi” between 1935 and 1942, which was a groundbreaking attempt for both research on tea ceremony and enlightenment, (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 12th Konyu 十二代 楽吉左衛門 弘入

1857-1932maleraku potteryBorn as the first son of Keinyu, Raku the 11th. Inherits the family estate at age 15, passes the estate to his eldest son Seinyu at age 63 and retires. He dies at age 76. Konyu is said to have had a mild temperament and exerted all his effort for the survival of the Raku family. He enjoyed poem, and led a secluded life at the summer house in Ishiyama in Shiga Prefecture, indulged in art as he created potteries. He has left many poems such as “as I play around with soil, my 76th autumn arrives”, “time has (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 11th Keinyu 十一代 楽吉左衛門 慶入

1817-1902maleraku potteryBorn as the third son of Naohachi Ogawa, a sake brewer from Tamba Province, in what is present-day Kokubu, Chitose-cho in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture. He first went by the name Sokichi, and he was later renamed Yoshitsura. At the age of 11, he was adopted by Tannyu X, later taking Tannyu’s daughter Myokoku as his wife. At the age of 29, he succeeded Tannyu as patriarch of the family, taking the name Kichizaemon. At the age of 55 he went into retirement, and passed away at 86. His period as an active ceramicist was second only to Ryonyu (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 10th Tannyu 十代 楽吉左衛門 旦入

1795-1854maleraku pottery9th generation, Ryonyu’s second son. His father, Ryonyu retired at the age of 56, but since his older brother died young, Tannyu succeeded as the family head at the age of 17. He retired at the age of 51 and changed his name to Tannyu, taking the “Tan” character from Soutan from the Omotesen family 10th generation Kyukosai. Tannyu and the Kishu Tokugawa family came to have a deeper connection than ever before. In the second year of the Bunsei era when Tannyu was 25 years old, the 10th generation of the Kishu Tokugawa family, Lord Harutomi opened an (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 9th Ryonyu 九代 楽吉左衛門 了入

1756-1834maleraku potteryRyonyu was the second son of Chonyu, the seventh generation head. Because his elder brother, Tokunyu the eighth generation, was in poor health, Ryonyu inherited the head of the household at age 15. From that point on he led a long life crafting ceramics, until his passing at the age of 79. He lost his father at age 15, his elder brother at 19, and when he was 33, all of the family’s works since the time of Chojiro were lost in the Great Tenmei Fire (also known as ‘Donguri Yake’ the Acorn Blaze) that burned most of Kyoto (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 8th Tokunyu 八代 楽吉左衛門 得入

1745-1774maleraku potteryHe was born as the eldest son of Chonyu, the 7th head. He was named Sokichi at birth and he was later renamed Eisei. He inherited the headship at 18, but when his father Chonyu passed away when he was 26, he also passed on the headship to his younger brother Sojiro (later Ryonyu), who was 15, because he had a weak constitution. He changed his name to Sabe and retired. He never married and passed away at the young age of 30. The name “Tokunyu” was given to him on the occasion of the 25th memorial service to (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 7th Chonyu 七代 楽吉左衛門 長入

1714-1770maleraku potteryBorn as the eldest son of the 6th generation Sanyu, he took over as the head of the family and didn’t retire until age 49, later passing away at age 57. Since taking on this new role, he worked tirelessly making pottery and ceramics for 40 years. His original name was Sokichi, and he was later renamed Eisei. After Chojiro started on the Raku tea bowls, they were followed up by potters Jokei and Donyu to give them a more modern decorative effect, changing them quite drastically. During the era of Ichiiri and Sonyu, there was a return to (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 6th Sanyu 六代 楽吉左衛門 左入

1685-1739maleraku potteryBorn as the second son of Odaya Kahei, he became the son-in-law of Sonyu. His original name was Sokichi, and he was later renamed Yoshiakira. His family home was in a town called Nijo Higashiiri, in Ajikoji, Kyoto Prefecture. It is still unknown when exactly he joined the Raku family as well as his specific relations with them. In 1708, as Sonyu retired, Yoshiakira married Sonyu’s daughter Myoshu, and took over the highly esteemed position as 6th generation Kichizaemon (tea bowl artisan). In 1728, Yoshiakira retired at age 44, passing on the Omotensenke 6th generation tea ceremony school to (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 5th Sonyu 五代 楽吉左衛門 宗入

1664-1716maleraku potterySonyu was the son of Sanemon, who ran a draper’s shop Kariganeya, and was adopted by Ichinyu at the age of 2. He eventually married Ichinyu’s daughter (Ozu). His original name was Heishiro, and he was later renamed Sokichi. Ogata Korin and Ogata Kenzan were his cousins, and his great-grandmother was Honami Koetsu’s sister. Ichigen was his brother-in-law who was 2 years older, and Sonyu took over as the head of the family at age 28, retired at age 45, and passed away at age 53. Between 1688 and 1695, he wrote “Sonyu Monjo,” which contained 2 sets of (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 4th Ichinyu 四代 楽吉左衛門 一入

1640-1696maleraku potteryIchinyu’s wife was the daughter of the maki-e painter, Kumagaya Muneaki (Soukan), and they lived close to her family home for a time during the Kanbun era. For a while, he and his wife were unable to bear any children, but when he was 23 years old, they had a boy (Ichigen) and in addition, they adopted a boy (Sounyu) from Kariganeya Sanemon. After that, they had a daughter, Otsu (Myotsu), who later became Sounyu’s wife. There was a period of time when Ichigen was taken in by the Raku family, and there are also records of Ichigen and (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 3rd Donyu 三代 楽吉左衛門 道入

1599-1656maleraku potteryDonyu, who was Jokei’s first son (Doraku being the 2nd) and a 2nd generation Raku-family descendant, went by the pseudonym or artist name Kichibe or Kichizaemon during his life, however, many people call him by his nickname ‘Nonko’.Nobody clearly knows when Donyu began pottery making, however, he had enough time to learn pottery from his father, Jokei, and it’s thought that he also learned it from Honami Koetsu (a famous potter). Donyu tried to develop a new raku ware style based on Rikyu-style tea bowls while incorporating his style and early Edo period trends.It was considered that Koetsu developed (more…)

Raku Kichizaemon 2nd Jokei ニ代 楽吉左衛門 常慶

1561-1635maleraku potterySons of Tanaka Sokei, Somi and Shozaemon were Jokei’s brothers. Jokei was running the raku pottery studio with Chojiro, Sokei and Somi. There, he taught Honami Koetsu, the method of making raku ware.It is considered that the success of Jokei’s works appeared after the death of Chojiro, establishing the solid foundations of raku ware, which are carried through to the present day and the fame of the raku family name. The rapport between the families of Rikyu, Chojiro and Sokei continued even after the seppuku (ritual suicide) of Rikyu. After the death of Rikyu, Shoan, a son of Rikyu, (more…)

Raku Chojiro (Raku Kichizaemon 1st) 楽長次郎 (初代 楽吉左衛門)

?-1589maleraku potteryA son of Ayame and Hikuni, he was the founder of Raku style of pottery (Raku ware), which was hand molded without the use of a pottery wheel. He made the Raku pottery studio with Tanaka Soke, as well as Joke and Somi who were Soke’s sons. It is said that Chojiro’s wife was Somi’s daughter.Chojiro made a new style of pottery, which was inspired by the ideas of Rikyu, famous amongst the general public. This work is also known as “raku chawan“ (hand molded tea bowl) with its origins stemming from Raku pottery. Raku ware has its roots (more…)

Otagaki Rengetsu 太田垣蓮月

1791-1875femaleawata potteryShe was a Buddhist nun who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Japanese poets of the 19th century. She was adopted at a young age by the Otagaki family. It is said that she didn’t live a happy life because she lost her adoptive father and five brothers from illness. She married, but her husband died soon after. She remarried but lost this husband too from illness after only four years, as well as her young son and three young daughters. She joined the temple Chion-in and became a nun, taking Rengetsu (“Lotus Moon”) as her Buddhist (more…)

Okuda Eisen 奥田頴川

1753-1811malekyo potteryMaruya Moemon was born to a family that had run a pawn shop in Kyoto for generations. He ran the family business until he was 35, when he left it to his son in order to pursue his passion for pottery. He built a kiln on the grounds of Kennin-ji temple, and began making unique ceramics. From 1781-1789 he succeeded in creating the first pieces of Kyo ware.He along with his understudy, Aoki Mokubei, and second generation of understudies, Takahashi Dohachi and Ogata Shuhei, are considered the fathers of Kyo ware ceramics. His most famous products were Gosuakae, but (more…)

Ohi Toshiro (Ohi Chozaemon 10th) 大樋年朗 (十代 大樋長左衛門)

1927-maleohi potteryAs the 10th generation Ohi Chozaemon, he inherited the Ohi ware family business, which was a traditional method of producing tea pottery from the feudal government period. On the side, he presented and displayed works that had adopted a modern feel in exhibitions, mainly the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition. He continued to be chosen for prizes and receive awards, becoming active as a central artisan in the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition.He uses the name, “10th Generation Ohi Chozaemon” for his traditional Ohi ware works. However, he uses the name he had before his succession as it is, “Ohi Toshiro,” (more…)

Ohi Chozaemon 9th 九代 大樋長左衛門

1901-1986maleohi potteryAfter graduating from Ishikawa Technical School, he devoted himself to the family business, and he was chosen for a prize for the first time in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce Kogei Exhibition in 1920. In 1925, he inherited the family estate and succeeded the name as the ninth generation Ohi Chozaemon. He earnestly studied traditional pottery techniques, and received high praise at his private exhibition, “Twelve Months Tea Bowl Exhibition” in 1936. In 1940, he was bestowed the Chozaemon sign from Konoe Fumimaro, and he was acknowledged as a Preserver of Kogei Techniques in 1942. From 1958, he (more…)

Takeuchi Chubei 竹内忠兵衛

Late Edo period-?maleCloisonné ware ceramist. He worked with Suzuki Seiichiro and Tsukamoto Jinuemon at the Dai Nippon Shippo Company(now the Ando Cloisonné Company), established in Nagoya in 1871, as the central figures producing cloisonné ware at the time. At the Centennial Exposition in 1876, and the first and second National Industrial Exhibitions in 1877 and 1881, he was recognized for his extraordinary skills and continued to submit his works under the Dai Nippon Shippo Company, Yokohama Tashiro Shoten Ltd. names as well as under his own, and was widely praised both in Japan and abroad.He created a piece of what (more…)

Taki Kazuo 瀧一夫

1910-1973maleHe moved to Tokyo in 1928 and studied painting and sculpting under Shimizu Takashi. He enrolled in the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts to study sculpting, and began to submit his sculptures to the Kokuten Exhibition while he was still a student.After graduating he won award after award at the Ministry of Education Fine Art, Imperial Academy of Fine Art, Chubu Sculptors Association, and the Japan Export Crafts Exhibitions, and also worked as a technical instructor at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Ceramics Research Center. After the war he left his job and devoted himself to ceramics, mainly submitting (more…)