What's in it: 

On this website we give you an impression of the vibrant and diverse ceramics scene in Japan today, and in our opinion, the diversity of contemporary Japanese ceramics can best be shown by featuring as many artists as possible.

We do this by providing a brief biography of these artists, accompanied by a few works that can be called representative of their work. Because an image says more than words, we mainly emphasize the works themselves, without elaborating on the context in which the work was made, the techniques used or the philosophy behind each individual work. This website can therefore be seen primarily as a showcase, a display of ceramic work recently made in Japan that shows the diversity of contemporary Japanese ceramics. And diverse it is, and although we only show work from a relatively short period of time, the variety of styles, techniques and ideas is perhaps even greater than in hundreds of years before.

Because there are literally thousands of ceramic artists working in Japan, many of whom deserve special attention because of their extraordinary works, this website can only offer a small and rather personal selection. We have therefore limited ourselves to those who have worked in the past 50 years, that is, during the latter part of the Showa period, the Heisei period and the current Reiwa period. However, we did not select by style, themes or techniques used, nor was age or fame in the West a criterion for us. Some are renowned and have already received much recognition during their lifetime, others are still relatively young and have a long career ahead of them.

If one criterion can be mentioned for the artists and their work presented here, it is that the work is of "special beauty," at least in the eyes of the compiler. Because of the elegance or just the robustness of the design, intriguing by form and construction, exuberant and colorful or just sober and subdued. However, the emphasis will be more on innovative and less on traditional, on sculptural rather than utilitarian ceramics. But always: "of special beauty", and because Japanese ceramics, as with all art, is a source of joy for many of us, the subtitle of this website "The Joy of Beauty" seems more than justified.

16. Ayumi Shigematsu 

       重松あゆみ