Hideki Yamashita

Hideki Yamashita was always interested in how various things in daily life are designed. To pursue his interest, he enrolled in the Kuwasawa Design School to study interior design.

While at the institute, his interest in Japanese-style objects grew, and after visiting temples and tea houses in Kyoto, he was determined to become a craftsman who could create the objects he envisioned in those places.
By an introduction by a relative, after graduating from the institute, he ended up studying ceramics at a studio in Arita. Later, he opened Yamashita Toubou (Yamashita Pottery) in his hometown Isehara City in Kanagawa Prefecture. Yamashita's studio was originally a pig barn. Because of the high temperature of the fire and the smoke coming out of the chimney, he searched for a remote place in the mountains where there were few houses. While the barn is large and a good place for pottery making, it is always too hot in the summer and too cold in winter.

Yamashita's signature "Ginka Tenmoku” series were created after much trial and error. Yamashita says that it was created by chance while experimenting with various clay and glaze mixtures and firing methods, but he attributes this to hundreds of experiments.

Yamashita’s commonality for his pottery is a simple, easy-to-use design. The simpler it is, the more advanced the production technique must be. Yamashita’s works will make you want to use them as long as possible.