1892 – 1979
male
seto pottery
Kato Shunji II was born the son of first-generation Kato Shunji. After inheriting the title of Kato Shunji II in 1912, he continued his father’s work making tea bowls, and helped innovate traditional Seto ware glazes. Notably, he served the Grand Master of the Matsuo-style of tea ceremony, the most prominent Japanese school of tea in the Chubu region, for whom he created several fantastic works. In 1975, he was certified as a prefecturally-designated important intangible cultural property of Aichi.
In 1940, to honor the spirits of those who died at war, he worked together with Buddhist-image potter Shibata Seifu on the Koa Kannon, a statue of the bodhisattva of compassion, that is located atop Mount Izu in Atami.
