Seiji Ito

Seiji Ito, who works under the name Jinshu (甚秋), is a master of Tokoname teaware with more than fifty years at the wheel — renowned for his extra-flat kyusu and deep connection to the culture of tea.

Available Pieces by Seiji Ito

About Seiji Ito (Tokoname, Japan)

Jinshu's teapots reflect a mastery of form and function. Each piece is shaped with clarity and subtlety, often characterised by perfect balance, elegant spouts, and carefully fitted lids. His subdued aesthetics reflect years of quiet refinement, drawing from the traditions of Tokoname while incorporating his own sensibilities. His most famous form is his incredibly simple yet refined flat (hira) kyusu, for which he has won several awards.

“In the world of tea,” he says, “the kyusu is the leading role, as in a play.”

"We sit together in his simple tea room, with a view onto a small, meticulously arranged garden — gravel, stone, a single maple. Every detail reflects attention, yet nothing feels forced. The tea, a Taiwanese oolong, is both floral and deep."

My impressions when visiting Seiji Ito in April 2023.

Short Bio

Born 1949 in Tokoname City, Aichi; entered pottery at twenty and has worked under the name Jinshu (甚秋) since 1970 — over half a century of teapot-making.
Second-generation head of Jinshu Tōen (甚秋陶苑), the workshop founded in 1955 by his father, Itō Minoru; Seiji began in teacups and yunomi, then turned his own work — and the workshop — toward the kyusu.
A Certified Traditional Craftsman (伝統工芸士) of Tokoname ware.
Best known for his extra-flat “gokuhira-gata” (極平型) kyusu, whose low, wide body lets the leaves spread for fuller extraction — the form that won him the 41st Chōza Prize at the Chōza Prize Tokoname Ceramic Art Exhibition (2012).
Further honoured with the Aichi Governor's Prize at the Tokoname Ceramic Industry Promotion Exhibition and a silver prize at the first World Ceramic Teapot Competition in Yixing, China; his work has also been shown in Taiwan.
Works in unglazed Tokoname red clay (shudei) with white and black clays, decorated by signature techniques — mogake (藻掛け, seaweed firing-marks), chara (a matte slip), and local oyster-shell powder.
Exhibited and stocked widely in Japan (Takashimaya, HULS Gallery) and well regarded in China and Taiwan, where he has taken part in tea events.

Unglazed red clay (shudei), sometimes blended with other Tokoname clays, all wheel-thrown. Many pieces are fired in traditional oxidation, some partly reduced, showing fine yakishime effects. His flat teapots use a large, three-dimensional strainer for clog-free pouring. Some works reflect influences from Taiwanese teaware aesthetics.

You can feel in his pieces that Seiji Ito has a deep, lived engagement with tea culture. His vessels are not just shaped for brewing tea — they are born from a quiet, precise understanding of the way tea is shared and experienced. At his 2024 solo show in Tokyo, “The Joy of Tea,” he poured for visitors from his own pots — the maker and the tea inseparable.

Seiji Ito

About Seiji Ito (Tokoname, Japan)

Short Bio

Currently available by Seiji Ito (Jinshu)

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