This autumn, there are not one, but two extraordinary ceramic art exhibitions showing in Tokyo. The first highlights the solo works and private collection of Tokyo's Seimei Tsuji (1927-2008) at The National Museum of Modern Art Crafts Gallery, while the other is a dual-exhibition of Kyoto artists Kazuo Yagi (1918-1979) and Kiyomizu Rokubei VII, also known as Kiyomizu Kyubey (1922-2006), showing at Musee Tomo.
At Tsuji's funeral, the revered ceramic art curator and critic Seizo Hayashiya (1928-2017) stood in front of Tsuji's portrait and said, "Hey you, you were the best potter on a wheel that I've ever seen!"
Tsuji had time to develop those skills as his father bought him a small hand-turning wheel before he turned 10. At 14 he established the Tsuji Ceramic Laboratory. His inspirations came from ancient art, of which many examples from his collection are on display, as well as the inherent beauty of the materials he used, namely clay from Shigaraki.