Hiroki Kanazawa

Hiroki Kanazawa was born in 1987 as a son of Kazuhiro Kanazawa. Kazuhiro was the legendary ceramicist of Maruo kiln in Amakusa city in Kumamoto prefecture.  The Maruo kiln has been around for more than 200 years. Hiroki is the 6th generation of the ceramic family.

Hiroki started working as a ceramicist when he was 18 years old, right after graduating from high school to work at his father’s kiln. His concept was completely opposite from what his family traditionally have been making and wanted to create special products which would stand out. Hiroki says “It feels nice to occasionally dress up if you wear simple clothing everyday! I hope my products will give you a special feeling for everyday life.”

Hiroki’s products have unique finishes such as iron like glaze, silver glaze and fluffy glaze. Those interesting glazes were found when Hiroki’s younger brother accidentally mixed the wrong ingredients into the bucket.

Hiroki and two of his brothers are still creating the classic products at their family own kiln while enjoying producing their own lines.