Japanese potters

Nakajima Ichiyo 中島一燿

1949-malemino potteryCreates Shino and Oribe ware that are traditional in Mino. Selected for the Issui-kai Exhibition, the Gifu Prefecture Exhibition, the Japan Vases and Tea Utensils Exhibition, and others. Won an Honorable Mention in the Japan Crafts Exhibition, Has held solo exhibitions at Nagoya Oriental Nakamura, Osaka Hanshin, Ikebukuro Mitsukoshi, and elsewhere. (more…)

Nakashizuka Shohei 中静昭平

1929-?maleStudied under Miyanohara Ken. Has won the National Ceramics Exhibition President’s Prize, the Idemitsu Prize, and the Education Minister’s Honorable Mention. Has won the Totokai Exhibition Totokai Prize, etc. Selected for the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition. Has focused on solo exhibitions since 1970, and has held many of these, such as in Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi and Tokyo Daimaru. Focuses on carved lacquerware, yellow ceramics, and three-color ceramics. (more…)

Nagasawa Eijin 永澤永人

1946-maleizushi potteryFrom Izushi, Hyogo Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Arts at Nihon University. Studied under the third Eishin at Izushigama Kiln. Set up a kiln in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 1974. Moved the kiln to Izukogen in 1985. Has held solo exhibitions at Shinjuku Kakiden G, Ginza Kuroda Pottery, Imperial Hotel Atsushiya G and elsewhere. Creates ceramic walls and interior design. (more…)

Nagasawa Eishin 4th 四代 永澤永信

1938-maleizushi potteryFrom Hyogo Prefecture. Became the fourth Eishin in 1977. Graduated from the Department of Crafts at Kyoto University of the Arts. Selected for the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition in 1965 for the first time, and has been selected multiple times since then; is a member of said association. Won the Member Prize at the Japan Modern Crafts Exhibition and is a member. Won the Prefectural Exhibition Governor’s Prize and is a judge. Committee member of the Prefectural Crafts Association. Recognized as a traditional artisan. Focuses on white porcelain and glazed inlay work. (more…)

Nakazawa Yasuo 中澤靖雄

1939-maleFrom Moji, Fukuoka Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Tama Art University. Studied under Matsushima Hiroaki, the best pupil of Kitaoji Rosanjin. Set up Bushumatsuyamagama Kiln in Saitama Prefecture in 1969. Has been selected for the Traditional Crafts New Works Exhibition and the Japan Ceramics Exhibition. Has received the Prime Minister’s Prize at the Saitama Ceramics Exhibition. Has held solo exhibitions at Yagihashi in Kumagaya, Nakamura Art Gallery in Uotsu, Ikebukuro Tobu, Gyoda Museum of Industry and Culture, Hachioji, Tokyo Daimaru, Higashimatsuyama Maruhiro, Chiba Rokuro, Ayaritsu Art Gallery, Urawa Isetan, and eslewhere. Focuses on inlay work, yakishime pottery, (more…)

Nakazato Tarouemon 13th 十三代 中里太郎右衛門

1923-2009malekaratsu potteryEldest son of the 12th Tarouemon. Graduated from the design department of the Tokyo Advanced Technical School. Studied under Kato Hajime. Became the 13th Tarouemon in 1969 when his father (sobriquet Muan) became a monk. First selected for the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition in 1951. Won the Hokuto Prize; was specially selected; is a judge and member; entrusted. Has received the Prime Minister’s Prize and is a director. Won the Japan Ceramics Association Prize and the Japan Arts Academy Prize. Judge in the Japan New Crafts Exhibition. His works have been procured by the Kyoto National Art Museum and (more…)

Nakazato Takashi 中里隆

1937-malekaratsu potteryFifth son of the 12th Tarouemon. Studied under his father. Traveled to the US in 1961 to work as a lecturer, and later traveled around the world. Started a kiln for Tanegashima ware in Nishinoomote in 1971 on the advice of Koyama Fujio. Returned home in 1974 and started Ryutagama Kiln in Karatsu in 1976 (the name was given by Koyama Fujio). Unaffiliated. Has held consecutive solo exhibitions at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi and Minamiaoyama Green G. Makes a broad range of pottery, including Karatsu ware, Nanban-style ceramics, Tanegashima ware, white porcelain, and others. (more…)

Nakazato Shigetoshi 中里重利

1930-2015malekaratsu potteryThird son of the 12th Tarouemon (Muan). Set up a kiln in Karatsu in 1973. Selected for the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition for the first time in 1952. His selected works have been procured by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs afterwards. Specially selected for the Hokuto Prize; accepted without review; entrusted judge and member. Received the Matsuzakaya Prize at the Modern Japan Ceramics Exhibition. Accepted without review for the Modern Art and Craft exhibition; is a judge and councilor, and received the Member Prize and the Education Minister’s Prize. Received the Kusunobe Prize and Member’s Prize at the Japan (more…)

Nagakura Suiko 長倉翠子

1937- 2016femalemashiko potteryFrom Yukuhashi City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Went to Mashiko in 1966 and set up independently. Selected for and received prizes at the Japan Traditional Crafts New Works Exhibition, the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition, the Japan Modern Crafts Exhibition, the Kofukai Exhibition, and others. Has held solo exhibitions at Nihonbashi Takashimaya and Yamagata Onuma. (more…)

Nakagawa Miyuki 仲口美雪

1946-femaleFrom Yamaguchi Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Crafts at the Kyoto University of the Arts. Set up the Fusetsugama kiln in 1971 with her husband Ippu. Has held two-person exhibitions at Shinjuku Keio, Hiroshima Fukuya, Fukuoka Tamaya, Shimoseki Daimaru, and elsewhere. Focuses on scrape-off designs. (more…)

Nakaguchi Ippu 仲口一風

1942-maleFrom Aichi Prefecture. Graduated from the sculpture department of the Kyoto University of the Arts. Set up the Fusetsugama kiln in Hiroshima Preecture in 1971. Won the Yomiuri Prize at the first Yagi Kazuo Prize Ceramics Exhibition. Has been selected for the Japan Ceramics Prize, the Traditional Crafts Chugoku Region Exhibition, the New Makers Craft Exhibition, and others. Focuses on cherry-blossom tenmoku ceramics, yakishime (high-fired unglazed ceramics) with engraved text, and avant-garde pottery. (more…)

Nakagawa Jinenbo 中川自然坊

1953-2011malekaratsu potteryFrom Genkai, Hizen. Became a student of Inoue Toya, who makes Karatsu ware, in 1977. Set up independently in 1982 and set up a waritake-style multi-chambered climbing kiln in Genkai. Later became a student of Tanaka Sajiro of Sajirogama Kiln for Karatsu ware. Focuses on solo exhibitions and has held them in Shibuya Kuroda Pottery and Shinjuku Odakyu. Mainly makes tea bowls in speckled, Korean, blue, and hakeme (with a brush-mark pattern) Karatsu ware through the knocking method, together with the potter’s wheel. (more…)

Nakagawa Ippento 中川一辺陶

1926-?maleFrom Gojozaka, Kyoto. Graduated from the Department of Ceramics at the Kyoto Institute of Technology (formerly Advanced Technical School). Is the fourth-generation successor at Kumoigama Kiln, which was founded in the Bunkyu era, counting from the first Kamejiro. Studied under the third Jonan and travelled abroad to China’s Shandong Province and elsewhere to study. Drawn to ancient Shigaraki ware and set up a climbing kiln in Shigaraki. Uses the yuzuhada (“citron skin” or small pinhole texture) and hiiro (reddish speckles) techniques, as well as ash glaze and color variation when firing, to create tea utensils and tableware for tea ceremony (more…)

Nagaoka Masami 長岡正己

1948-2013maleFrom Ninomiya. Graduated from Komaba High School in Tokyo. Studied under Kamiya Norio from Chiba. Set up independently after that. Focuses on yakishime (high-fired unglazed ceramics) made in cave kilns. (more…)

Kato Renkichi 加藤廉吉

Meiji period-maleseto potteryKato Renkichi’s artist name was Seibido. He worked as a Seto ware potter and operated a kiln, and is mainly known for presenting blue and white ceramics and porcelain works featuring colored art at exhibitions in Japan and abroad. (more…)

Ito Saiso 伊藤才叟

1886 -1977maleraku potteryThe pen-name is Gafuken. Ito Saiso originally operated a business selling tea bowls in Tsushima, Aichi. Inspired by the works of Ohashi Shuji, however, he gradually found himself more interested in creating ceramics than in selling them. After completing training in Seto, he opened up his own pottery in Fujinami, Tsushima in 1933.He mainly produced Raku ware tea bowls, and started out working under the name Toseian, but was given the new artist name “Gafu-kensaiso“ by Hattori Tanpu, a scholar of Chinese classics (he also worked under such aliases as “Nyudoso” and “Ichimusai”).He actively pursued ceramics making, opening (more…)

Kawai Hisashi 河井久

1942 – 2016maleKawai Hisashi began training in Kyoto under his great-uncle, Kawai Kanjiro, after graduating high school in 1961.He was further mentored by his uncle, Kawai Takekazu, and went independent in 1981. In 1984, he opened his kiln, Sarukoden-gama, in Shigacho, Shiga Prefecture. Since then, he has continued releasing and presenting works, primarily at solo exhibitions. (more…)

Kato Shubei 2nd 二代 加藤周兵衛

1848 – 1903maleseto porcelainKato Shubei was born the first son of first-generation Kato Shubei (business name: Haku-undo, ‘white cloud hall’), a potter who began making dyed Seto ware from around the end of the Edo period. In 1877, he inherited the household and took on the title Shubei II.While his father made blue and white ceramics, Shubei II received high praises from the Morimura Group (presently NORITAKE), and began producing ceramics for export overseas. Working exclusively with Morimura, he left behind wonderful pieces of Western-style tableware, which were characterized by their detailed art linework on thin materials. For the artwork, (more…)

Kato Shunbu 加藤春武

1886 – ?malesato potteryKato Shunbu is of the same lineage as Seto ware founder Kato Kagemasa, and was born into a family that passed down the name Kato Buemon from generation to generation. Kato himself inherited the title of Buemon VII.His works include those in the Ki-Seto style and homages to Ofuke works. (more…)