Yutaro Yamada
Yutaro Yamada (山田勇太朗, b. 1992) belongs to the youngest generation of Tokoname teapot makers — the first kyusu specialist in his potting family, working in self-dug clay, shudei, mogake and yohen.
About Yutaro Yamada (Tokoname, Japan)
Yutaro Yamada (b. 1992, Tokoname) belongs to the youngest generation of teapot makers in Japan's most famous kyusu town. Although his family has worked in clay for three generations, he is the first to give himself wholly to the teapot — coming to it after an early detour into an engineering degree before completing the Tokoname Ceramic Research Institute in 2017. He digs and refines his own clay from the Chita Peninsula and works in kyusu alone, balancing technical rigour with a clear personal voice.
“I'm infatuated with kyusu.”
Yutaro Yamada
Short Bio
- Born 1992 in Tokoname, Aichi — the historic heart of Japanese teapot making.
- Third generation of a Tokoname pottery family, but the first to devote himself entirely to kyusu (his grandfather made braziers; his father, who makes planters, “has no interest in teapots”).
- Trained in ceramics at Tokoname High School, took an engineering degree at Daido University (2014), then returned to clay and completed the Tokoname Ceramic Research Institute (とこなめ陶の森陶芸研究所) in 2017.
- Digs and refines his own clay, water-levigating Chita Peninsula earth over long periods to throw teapots prized for being exceptionally thin and light.
- Works in genuine shudei (本朱泥, iron-rich red clay), kokudei (黒泥, black clay), the mogake (藻掛, seaweed-scorch) technique, and yohen (窯変, kiln-flame colouration).
- Pierces each internal strainer by hand and finishes the body-to-spout joint with a distinctive “hane” (wing) flourish.
- One of the most closely watched of Tokoname's youngest generation of teapot makers.
Yamada digs and water-levigates his own clay from the Chita Peninsula over long periods, working in genuine shudei (本朱泥) rice-paddy red clay and kokudei (黒泥) black clay, with mogake (藻掛, eelgrass scorch) and the flame-colouring of yohen (窯変). He pierces each internal strainer by hand and finishes the joint between body and spout with his signature “hane,” or wing. His teapots come in side-handle (yokode), back-handle, round, egg and flat-round forms, all thrown exceptionally thin and light.
That a maker this young has committed to the kyusu alone — the most exacting object in Tokoname's repertoire, and in a family that never made teapots — says a great deal about the seriousness he brings to the craft and where he means to take it.
