The Workshop Collection: An Exclusive Capsule

Mashiko is just a few hours drive north of Tokyo, but feels a world away. Set in a valley of rice fields and forested hills, with mountain views and slow, rural pace of life. The earliest fragments of pottery in the area date back thousands of years, but it owes its current fame mainly to the work of the Hamada family.

Hamada Tomoo, the third generation of the family to live and work here, is there to welcome us when we arrive along with his wife Masako. The first of the season’s blossom is sprouting, bright pink, on the trees.

Tomoo spends most days here working, preferring nothing more than the pulse of the kickwheel and the feel of the clay in his hands. They still do things here the way his grandfather, Shoji, would’ve, when he founded his kiln in 1930.

Shoji built the first climbing kiln, or noborigama, here, with space for two wheels, one for him and one for guests. The wheels were positioned in the living room of the old family home. That original residence is now the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, but Shoji soon needed to expand. First he acquired a traditional thatched roof house from a nearby farm and moved it to Mashiko, converting one room into a workshop and the other into living quarters, before expanding again in the 1940s, with space for seven wheels, a larger kiln, and began hiring craftsmen and apprentices.

“When Shoji Hamada first arrived in Mashiko, there were no independent ceramic artists in the modern sense,” Tomoo says, of the area’s history. “It was a modest pottery-producing region. Shoji was the very first artist in Mashiko to work independently, choosing to bypass the traditional system.”

Despite being deeply rooted in the landscape of Mashiko, a place that still retains a discrete air of traditional Japanese culture, the story of the Hamada pottery is also one of cross-cultural pollination and innovation. Shoji studied ceramics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and he became acquainted with Bernard Leech, when the British ceramicist was working and studying in Japan.

The two became great friends. Their philosophies towards pottery became intertwined over the years, sharing a deep respect for materials, and the relationship between clay, glaze and fire, with Shoji heading to St Ives to set up the Leech pottery in the early 1920s. Tomoo speaks of the “profound friendship and collaboration between the two men.” It’s a collaboration that still continues, with Tomoo often travelling to St Ives, giving workshops and lectures, and many returning the favour and coming to Mashiko to study and learn.

“It’s these enduring relationships that ensure the spirit of cultural exchange remains a living part of Mashiko’s creative community,” Tomoo explains, and it's partly this that helps keep the Hamada pottery feeling alive, despite the fact that the methods they use remain rooted in the world of his grandfather.

“It’s been passed down through generations in Mashiko and it remains the core of the town’s enduring appeal,” Tomoo says. “At Hamada-gama, both the craftsmen and I cherish these traditional techniques and glazes, treating them as the essential foundation of our daily work. But while we are deeply committed to this heritage, we also strive to integrate modern sensibilities and contemporary design into our practice. The connection to the past is not a static constraint, but a vital base upon which we build something relevant for the present day.”

That innovation has been a key part of Tomoo’s own work as a potter. He first studied sculpture and contemporary art before returning to Mashiko to take over the kiln, and in his work as a ceramicist he mixes modernity within the frameworks of tradition, his shapes being much more sculptural than those of his grandfather.

“I draw great insight from exceptional design, expression, and spirituality found in diverse fields such as fashion, architecture, culinary arts, Ikebana, tea ceremony, and various other traditional crafts,” Tomoo says. “At the same time, the work of the pioneers of the Mingei movement—Shoji Hamada, Bernard Leach, Kanjiro Kawai, Shiko Munakata, and Soetsu Yanagi—forms the very bedrock of my identity. I often find that the answers to the challenges in my own work lie within the profound legacy they left behind.”

Shoji was one of the key figures in the Mingei movement, helping to promote traditional Japanese arts and crafts, and the people who made them. It was a reaction, in part, to the modernisation of the country in those decades just before and after the war. The Mingei movement found beauty in the ordinary and everyday objects, and prized the beauty of tradition, simplicity and function. The objects they made were designed to be used, and kept the traces of the craftsmanship in their production.

“The essence of the Mingei movement lies in the intimacy of integrating exceptional, beautiful handmade objects into our daily lives, where they can be used naturally and with affection,” Tomoo explains. “What is most important is the mutual understanding that arises between the maker, the seller, and the user—all of whom are interconnected. Unlike mass-produced industrial goods, the relationship here is built on a shared appreciation for the warmth of craftsmanship, where each item is created by artisans using masterful techniques.”

“As society has transitioned from the modern era, the role of handmade design in our daily lives has naturally evolved,” Tomoo says of its place in contemporary society. “It is vital to propose Mingei and handmade crafts that truly fit within a modern lifestyle, ensuring these traditions remain relevant and meaningful today.”

This makes Tomoo and the Hamada pottery the perfect place to show our latest capsule, The Workshop Collection, inspired by the rigorous care and attention of Japanese craftspeople. Drawing from the way generations of artisans have lived, worked and interacted with their surroundings.

The connection between making, materiality and landscape is at the heart of this: materials, textures, and colours are informed by their environment and what they are used for: at home, in the studio, making, doing and getting your hands dirty. It’s not just about adherence to the past, but respect for it, and to keep moving forward and supporting the next generation.

“My daughter, Chiharu, is currently in training to become the fourth generation of the studio,” Tomoo says. “Our mission is to pass our heritage from one person to the next, ensuring that as knowledge is shared, the depth of understanding continues to grow.”