Shoji Hamada

Shoji Hamada was a Japanese potter and one of the central figures in the mingei, or folk craft, movement that celebrated the beauty of anonymous, functional, handmade objects over refined individual artistry. He worked closely with Bernard Leach in England before returning to Japan and settling in the pottery town of Mashiko, where his simple, robust stoneware, glazed with techniques drawn from folk traditions, became internationally influential. In 1955 the Japanese government designated him a Living National Treasure in recognition of his mastery of traditional ceramic techniques. Hamada's belief that beauty arises naturally from disciplined, repetitive craft rather than deliberate artistic invention shaped studio pottery both in Japan and, through his collaboration with Leach, across the West.