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Shōji Hamada (濱田 庄司 Hamada Shōji?, December 9, 1894 – January 5, 1978) was a Japanese potter. He was a significant influence on studio pottery of the twentieth century[citation needed], and a major figure of the mingei folk-art movement, establishing the town of Mashiko as a world-renowned pottery centre[citation needed].
Hamada was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1894.
He studied ceramics at Tokyo Institute of Technology with Kawai Kanjirō under Itaya Hazan. As the sole students in the school interested in becoming artist-potters, Hamada and the slightly elder Kawai were soon friends, touring the city in search of inspiration.[1][2] Hamada was deeply impressed by a Tokyo exhibition of ceramic art by Bernard Leach, who was then staying with Yanagi Soetsu, and wrote to Leach seeking an introduction[1] The two found much in common and became good friends, so much so that Hamada accompanied Leach to England in 1920 when the latter decided to return and establish a pottery there. Having spent three years in St Ives with Bernard Leach, he returned to Japan in 1923 and eventually established his workshop in Mashiko, about 100 km north-east of Tokyo.
In 1955 the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology designated him a "Living National Treasure".
Hamada Shoji was very supportive of young artists who moved to Mashiko such as his student Shimaoka Tatsuzō, and Kamoda Shoji, and was also important in establishing Mashiko as a destination for day tourism.
Hamada died in Mashiko on January 5, 1978.
Throughout a lifetime dedicated to making pottery he achieved international recognition and his works have been collected by museums across the world. Hamada influence was felt not only in his native Japan, particularly in Mashiko, but also in the West. In the United Kingdom and the US his style and philosophy became well known amongst studio potters, and he was revered as the archetypal "Oriental" potter. In 1955 he was designated a “Living National Treasure”.