Shunemon Okugawa

• 1949
  Born in Arita Town, Saga Prefecture
• 1964
  Started production of ceramics
• 1971
  Studied under OKUGAWA Chuemon, a holder of national intangible cultural property
• 1974
  Selected for Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition (first time)
• 1979
  Independent under the name of OKUGAWA Shunemon
• 1981
  Full member, Japan Kogei Association
• 1982
  Started solo exhibitions (mainly in Tokyo)
• 1986
  Passed first-class skilled worker certification
  for hand pottery wheel shaping
  Acknowledged as a traditional craft artist for hand
  pottery wheel shaping
• 1989
  Held an exhibition of the last works of the late Chuemon, and his own works
• 1994
  Acknowledged as a model of an outstanding skilled worker by Saga Prefecture
• 2000
  Saga Contemporary Ceramics from the Home of Japanese Porcelain, British Museum, UK
• 2001
  "Seihakuji Kamon Ozara" collected by British Museum
• 2001
  Instructor, pottery wheel course, Saga Prefectural Arita College of Ceramics
• 2002
  Acknowledged as a "Contemporary Master Craftsman" title bestowed on
  outstanding skilled artisans by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
• 2005
  Received the Medal with Yellow Ribbon
• 2011
  Exhibited at Shanghai Art Fair
• 2014
  2014 HERITAGE Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, New York, US
  2014 HERITAGE Contemporary Japanese Ceramics:Living National Treasures and
  Other Masters, the Japanese Embassy, Washington, DC

Shunemon’s works are characterized by beautiful forms that only an artist who has kept pursuing wheel shaping is able to create. His finished works with decorative engraving are often so thin that when held to the light they are transparent, and clearly show his desire to waste no porcelain clay.

His works are marked by a contradictory sharpness and softness; delicate engraving, and such sections as the rim and foot (bottom) demonstrate his painstaking handwork, with meticulous attention to each technique he spares no effort in finishing a work.

• Received the Medal with Yellow Ribbon from the Ministry
  of Health, Labour and Welfare
• Received the title of Contemporary Master Craftsman and Outstanding Skilled Worker
  from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
• Selected for and awarded at many exhibitions, including the Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition,
  the West Japan Arts and Crafts Exhibition,
  the Saga Exhibition, the Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition, the Kyushu Yamaguchi Ceramics Exhibition,
  the Issuikai, the Chunichi International
  Exhibition of Ceramic Arts, the Western Japan Ceramic Exhibition,
  the International Ceramics Exhibition, and other exhibitions

• Official Site