[4] Sometime between 1748 and 1751,[5] he moved to Kyoto and began to study pottery under Ebiya Seibei (海老屋清兵衛), acknowledged as the "first recorded potter of Kyomizu [sic] faience".
According to some accounts, the name Rokubei was given to him by the abbot-prince of Myōhō Temple (妙法院),[9] who was very favourably impressed with a set of black Raku ware cups the potter made him.
It is known that the abbot-prince gave him a seal to use as his mark:[10] the character 清 (pronounced sei or kyo) bounded by a hexagon.
This mark, the rokumoku seal (六目印),[13] has continued to be used through the Kiyomizu generations, although the second family head added a double line to the hexagon to distinguish the works of the first Rokubei.
[14] Rokubei was active in Kyoto art circles and counted among his friends the painters Maruyama Ōkyo, Matsumura Goshun,[15] and Tanomura Chikuden.
In 1868, he again changed his name, substituting the surname Kotō with Shimizu, an alternate reading for the characters making up Kiyomizu (清水).
[28] Rokubei III was responsible during this tumultuous time for maintaining the Kiyomizu kiln and for ensuring its resurgence while respecting family tradition.
[32] By the late 1860s, Kiyomizu Rokubei III, like other heads of the long-established Kyoto potteries, realized the advantages of modernization and of attempting to accommodate Western tastes.
[34] This shift in orientation was encouraged by government authorities, who awarded prizes to ceramists— including Rokubei III— for excellence in western-style works.
[35] The Kiyomizu kiln, however, remained fairly conservative in its output, sticking predominantly to traditional pieces and styles.
[44] He studied painting with Shiokawa Bunrin,[45] a Shijō school painter who was strongly influenced by Western art.
He died in 1920, leaving a legacy of having synthesized the techniques of the Kiyomizu family and truly defined the Rokubei style.
His career was to be marked by success in exhibitions including numerous awards at the Bunten (文展), Teiten (帝展) and Nitten (日展).
[63] He enjoyed international acclaim, showing pieces at exhibitions, having his works join museum collections and winning awards in Belgium, the USSR, France and Italy.
[64] He was made a member of the Japan Art Academy (日本芸術院会) in 1962 and awarded the Order of Cultural Merit (文化功労) in 1976.
[70] In addition to critically acclaimed works of art, Rokubei VII’s career was marked by changes of name and of specialty.
Born the third son of Tsukamoto Takejirō (塚本竹十郎) in Aichi Prefecture, he was adopted into the Kiyomizu family when he married Rokubei VI’s eldest daughter in 1951.
Although he inherited the headship of the family kiln in 1981, he did not return to pottery-making until 1987, meaning a 20-year gap in works by a Kiyomizu Rokubei.
As Rokubei VII, he not only made abstract works, but also traditional, functional objects such as vases, tea bowls, sake sets, coffee cups and plates.
"[73] In 2000, he handed over the Rokubei title to his eldest son, though he continued to produce sculpture as Kiyomizu Kyūbei until his death in 2006.
[79] The reason is unclear, but apocryphally relates to the fact that he was a heavy drinker and not permitted by his father to use the Rokubei name.
[80] Lifestyle aside, Shichibei apparently inherited the family style and technique, with his works reputedly being easily mistakable for those of his father.
[82] The Shichibei potters used a mark based on that of the Rokubeis: the character sei (清) surrounded by a double heptagon.
[83] The second son of Shichibei II, Kōzaburō, went on to head a new branch of the extended family: the Tsuchitani (土谷) kiln.