	Masakazu Kusakabe (Japan) Dates: b.1946 Masakazu Kusakabe was born in Miharu town in the Fukushima prefecture. As a young man, he read "Yakimono zuihitsu", written by Toukurou Kato and was deeply moved by seeing his exhibition at the Maruei department store in Nagoya city. From that point he became interested in ceramics. Soon after he built a wood kiln and started Raku-Yaki. From the 1970s he experimented with various wood fire kilns until 1983 when he built an anagama kiln. Two years later he built his first studio in Miharu town, and named it Yuuhoutoubou. Since the 1990s he has built a series of “Dancing Fire Wood Kilns" during international exchanges mainly in the USA. His work is presented in hand painted wooden boxes which are an integral part of the ceramic piece. In 2009 he was a demonstrator at the International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth. He co-wrote Japanese wood-fired Ceramics (with Mark Lancet) Krause Publications, 2005.

Masakazu Kusakabe (Japan)

Dates: b.1946

Masakazu Kusakabe was born in Miharu town in the Fukushima prefecture. As a young man, he read "Yakimono zuihitsu", written by Toukurou Kato and was deeply moved by seeing his exhibition at the Maruei department store in Nagoya city. From that point he became interested in ceramics. Soon after he built a wood kiln and started Raku-Yaki. From the 1970s he experimented with various wood fire kilns until 1983 when he built an anagama kiln. Two years later he built his first studio in Miharu town, and named it Yuuhoutoubou. Since the 1990s he has built a series of “Dancing Fire Wood Kilns" during international exchanges mainly in the USA. His work is presented in hand painted wooden boxes which are an integral part of the ceramic piece. In 2009 he was a demonstrator at the International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth. He co-wrote Japanese wood-fired Ceramics (with Mark Lancet) Krause Publications, 2005.