Crafting Ancient Japanese Pottery: Keeping Alive A Japanese Art Form | Handmade In Japan | Journal

Meet one of Japan's most famous family of potters - the Hamadas. Shoji Hamada was a major figure in the Mingei folk art movement of the 1920s and 30s and helped turn the town of Mashiko into a major center of ceramics, famous for its thick and rustic pottery. Nowadays, his grandson, Tomoo Hamada, continues the family tradition as he painstakingly shapes his pots and fires them in an old style wood-fueled kiln. The art of Japanese pottery is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and dates back thousands of years.

Handmade In Japan is a short trilogy of films that take a closer look at the incredible and iconic items that originate from Japan. The Samurai Sword, the Kimono and Japanese Pottery. Each film focuses on the process behind the craft as well as looking at their importance in Japanese culture.