Private collection

At just 32 years old, Master Gafu is already one of Japan's most respected ceramic artists. He is a student of Fugetsu, who in turn was a student of the first Living National Treasure from Tokoname: Jozan Yamada. He is particularly known for his clay, which he produces according to the Suihi method and stores for up to two years, as well as his perfectly shaped, smaller kyusus, which invite a closer connection with the tea inside.

Master Yohei Konishi was born in Tokoname in 1941. The first son of the renowned pottery master Yusen, Yohei Konishi quickly accrued a number of national and international awards for his creative and masterful tea ceramics just a few years after graduating. His philosophy of ceramics, underpinning everything he creates, sees clay as a living being, with the potter's task being to put all their heart and soul into each work, expressing through it the entire ceramic tradition which flows through the master.

Master Sawada Shoson was born in Tokoname in 1937 under the name Shuji Sawada. From 1956, he was taught the art of kyusu making by the famous Master Shuzan Umehara. By 1970, his father Shoson, a renowned sculptor, had bestowed his name upon him. He has taught at the Aichi University of the Arts, among other institutions, and is a member of the Japan Kogei Association for traditional Japanese art crafts.

Born in 1941, Soko achieved the status of Master Traditional Craftsman (伝統工芸士) in 1993. Considered a master of the Yohen firing technique, his kyusus are famous for their detailed bodies and precisely engraved filters.

Jozan Yamada III, who died in 2005, is considered one of the greatest tea pottery masters in Japanese history. Born in 1924, he is said to have mastered over 100 different forms of kyusu during his lifetime. In 1961, after his father's death, he officially took the name Jozan Yamada III, which finally passed to his son Jozan Yamada IV in 2005. His nomination as a Living National Treasure in 1998 was instrumental in giving kyusu, and the wider work of Tokoname tea ceramics in general, the status of genuine pottery art.

Born in 1913, Master Yusen is considered one of the most famous and innovative kyusu artists in Japan. He perfected the ceramic sieve both in artistry and functionality and developed the Nerikomi technique of clay production, which gives many of his works a splendid and unique beauty of colour.