1890-1970
male
Real name is Mizuno Kizaburo. Heian Tofukuji was adopted by Kyoto’s comb craftsman Mizuno Zenzaburo (artist name: Anrakuen), and began his career as an assistant to Zenzaburo. However, he took an interest in bonsai due to the influence of his adoptive father.
However, as the material celluloid became widely circulated, the family was forced to shut down the comb-making business, and Tofukuji made the decision to switch to making bonsai pots.
Tofukuji rented a kiln near Tofukuji Temple in Higashiyama, Kyoto, and started creating under the name “Anrakuen Kisan,” a combination of his father’s artist name and real name. However, at the time, Chinese bonsai pots were at the height of its popularity, and business was difficult. Tofukuji studied the basics of pottery such as the mixing ratio of glaze and how to shape the pots from Miyashita Zenju, who later became one of the leading artists in Kyo ware. Tofukuji then continued researching and studying pottery on his own, and went on to create a variety of types of pots. He relocated his studio to Yamashina, Kyoto in 1937.
He was a pioneering figure in the world of modern Japanese bonsai pot artists, and his body of work finally started gaining recognition in the late years of his life, after World War II. It is only after his death that his work became as highly praised as it is today.
