Hiroshi Ema

Hiroshi Ema was born in 1953 and started his working life in the business world. He took up ceramics seriously in 1990 and graduated from the Bizen Ceramic Centre in 1992, opening his own anagama kiln in the village of Honjo in 1994.

I believe that Ema still lives and works in the Japanese Alps near to the city of Nagano and makes his work using a mixture of Bizen clay and a darker clay dug from the paddy fields near his house. His pieces are fired for between 7 and 12 days using pine wood either in his 12 metre or 6 metre anagama.

Ema has been exhibiting since 1998 and has gained a considerable reputation, being recognised as one of the leading contemporary Japanese ceramists by Kuroda Kusaomi, who is the owner of one of Tokyo’s best known galleries.

A large hand-built vase with Ema-san's incised signature on the base.