Shōji Hamada

As the sole students in the school interested in becoming artist-potters, Hamada and the slightly elder Kawai were soon friends, touring the city in search of inspiration.

[3] The two found much in common and became good friends, so much so that Hamada asked and was granted permission to accompany Leach to England in 1920 when the latter decided to return and establish a pottery there.

[2] Having spent three years in St Ives with Bernard Leach, he returned to Japan in 1923 and traveled to potteries and stayed at Tsuboya in Okinawa Prefecture for weeks, then eventually established his workshop in Mashiko, about 100 km (62 mi) north-east of Tokyo.

Here, he built his own pottery and committed himself to using only locally sourced materials, not only in the clay he used, but also the glazes he created and the brushes he manufactured himself from dog hair and bamboo.

Since he moved to Mashiko, Hamada bought, relocated, and refurbished traditional farm houses, stone warehouses, and nagaya-mon gatehouses of Edo period unique to southern Tochigi Prefecture on his property.

[8] Throughout a lifetime dedicated to making pottery he achieved international recognition and his works have been collected by museums across the world.