My connection to clay is somewhat related to my connection to coffee. Spending time at the café has been important for me ever since I was young. My time at the café is spent not only to enjoy a good cup of coffee, but also to take in the whole experience around it.
Café Ibrik at Okayama Orient Museum that I frequented during my high school days was my favorite place. I saw how Arabic Coffee was prepared and I enjoyed it in a handmade cup in the perfect setting. I also remember my first cup of Blue Mountain coffee at the café where the customers could choose their cups to use for their coffee. Around that time I started to look for the perfect relationship between the coffee and the cup.

In 1994 I started to create cups from clay. First it was for coffee, then for tea. Making Chawan, a teabowl for Japanese Way of Tea became a big challenge for me. In order to create a good one, I must study Japanese Way of Tea, Japanese Tea Ceremony. It was a must to become a user to understand and to make Chawan. It is not something that you can learn from reading a book about it, or looking at the objects or the photos. Not only I enjoyed Japanese tea practice, but I also fell in love with all aspects of Japanese tea. I must say that studying tea truly influenced my way of making clay art.

Lastly, I aim to create living works of art that have “soul” in a way that forms a heart-to-heart link between the maker and the user. I believe that even one small object that I create could deliver my message.