Toru Hatta is an internationally celebrated master craftsman whose works manifests the natural spirituality of clay, glaze and fire.
His signature surfaces – Shirokake, Kurokake and Matsukake – result from artistic and scientific ingenuity.
His experiments refine historical Korean, Japanese and Chinese techniques such as Buncheong and Mishima-te.
Mr. Hatta expands the boundaries of his materials every day. He treats each batch of wild dug clay individually, based on their unique characteristics. Adding what he finds from nature – coastal or farmland clay, ash made from grape vines or pine needles, to him life is harmonious when our tableware is connected with our local environment.
He runs monthly firing cycles using Anagama and Gas kilns, multiple times on the same batch of works. Wild clay, white slip, coarse stones and ash glaze condense until textural grains finally manifest themselves, as if bursting from earth.
- 1977 Born in Ishikawa Prefecture.
- 2000 Graduated from Osaka Sangyo University, Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design Engineering
- 2003 Began working as a potter
- 2004 Built an Anagama kiln
- 2022 Built a second Anagama kiln
- Currently runs pottery workshops in Tondabayashi and Sakai, Osaka
- Exhibits his works at exhibitions in Japan and abroad
