Yu Okada

About the Artist

New Art Based on Tradition

Yu Okada is the 8th generation of the Okada Kiln, a Hagi ware pottery with a long history since the Edo period. His artwork is collected by famous art museums including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. His representative works are those using white straw ash glaze, a typical glaze used for Hagi ware, as well as his flame pattern series, which he got the idea from his trip to the silk road. The flame pattern series are pieces with flickering flame patterns, his original design making use of the colors of Hagi clay. There are 4 rooms in his climbing kiln which he fires several times a year to produce many pieces of various sizes, but he says he is satisfied with only 40% of them. While using traditional material and techniques, Okada, with a career as a ceramic artist for more than 50 years, continues to take on new challenges to create his original artwork.

Style

OKADA uses a noborigama (multi-chambered climbing kiln) and mainly produces traditional Hagi ware works.

Biography

• 1946
  Born in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
• 1968
  Graduated from Keio University
• 1972
  Studied Hagi wares under his father, OKADA Senshu
• 1978
  Part-time lecturer at the Hagi Women’s Junior College (– 1998)
• 1979
  Selected for the Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition
  Selected for the Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
• 1993
  20th Anniversary Solo Exhibition "Tenchi Yukyu”
• 1998
  Yakimono Tambo "The Warmth of White" (NHK Television Broadcast)
• 1999
  Ceramic art supervisor for NHK TV Drama Series "Higa Hashiru"
• 2002
  Becomes Director of the Japan Kōgei Association (– 2012)
• 2004
  Becomes 8th generation of the Okada Kiln
• 2006
  Designated as Intangible Cultural Property of Yamaguchi Prefecture
  The Quintessence of Modern Japanese Ceramics (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)
• 2010
  Modern Japanese Ceramics Exhibition (Himeji City Museum of Art)
  The 3rd Tomo Museum Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony "Tea Today"
• 2013
  Submitted to Cheongju International Craft Biennale
• 2014
  "Beauty of KOGEI: Art Crafts in Japan" (Singapore)
• 2017
  Received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays

Awards

• 1986
  Received the Yamaguchi Governor Award at the West Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
• 1989
  Received the Kumamoto Governor Award at the West Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
• 1994
  Received the Yamaguchi Prefecture Art Culture Promotion Encouragement Award
• 1998
  Received the Yamaguchi Cultural Merit Award
• 2001
  Received the Yamaguchi Arts and Cultural Merit Encouragement Award
• 2011
  Received the Grand Prize at the Kikuchi Biennale
• 2013
  Received the Excellence Award at the 33rd POLA Traditional Culture Awards
• 2018
  Received the Excellence Award at the Tanabe Museum of Art Grand Award “Arts of the Tea Ceremony” Exhibition
• 2019
  Received the Excellence Award at the Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony
• 2020
  Received the Incentive Award at the Tanabe Museum of Art Grand Award “Arts of the Tea Ceremony” Exhibition
• 2021
  Received the Excellence Award at the Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony
  Received the Chugoku Cultural Award

Public Collections

• National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SOGO Museum of Art, Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Tanabe Museum of Art, Hagi Uragami Museum, Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum, Higashihiroshima City Museum of Art, Honolulu Museum of Art