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...

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 devo...

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 cu...

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...

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 remain...

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 ...

Mr. Koji Yamane is from Kumamoto Prefecture. From a young age, he was fond of arts and crafts and interested in the work of craftspeople. After graduating with an engineering degree, he had worked in various fields but his desire to be a craftsman still remained. Subsequently, he...

Mr. Yoshio Sotokawa moved from his hometown, Toyama city to Takaoka city to join YAMAGUCHI KYUJO Co., Ltd. in 1979 when he married one of the daughters of the Yamaguchi family. As he got involved in the family business, he gradually became fascinated by the deep culture of tradit...

Mr. Nomura was born and raised in Toyama prefecture. When he moved and settled in Takaoka city, he frequently visited Takaoka Art Museum and that is when he discovered traditional craft works of Takaoka. He was especially attracted to lacquerware decorated with “raden” (mother-of...

Mr. Shozo Yamaguchi was born in Kyoto. In 1998, he joined KUMAGAI Co., Ltd., a company specializing in Kyoto ware as he wished to do work which is related to Kyoto, his hometown. Being a salesperson, he has developed new sales channels for this company. The most memorable event h...

Born in Aichi Prefecture, Mr. Hamono had moved to Mizunami City in Gifu Prefecture, a production area of ceramics in 2015 after his marriage, as it was his wife’s hometown. Soon after, he joined Oda Pottery Co., Ltd. Even though he did not have any experience in ceramic manufactu...

Mr. Nobuo Gato, a craftsman of wipe-lacquering (fuki urushi) is the third-generation of a lacquerware merchant, Gato Mikio in the town of Yamanaka in Ishikawa Prefecture. He was encouraged by the words of his father, Mikio “ Lacquerware will never disappear ”, and decided to take...