Kinjo Jiro hails from Okinawa and was designated a Living National Treasure in
1985. Born in 1912 in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Kinjo began his career in
ceramics at the young age of 13. He was heavily influenced by “Tsuboya-yaki”
pottery that originated during the Ryukyu Dynasty. He built his own climbing kiln
or Noborigama in Yomitan, the home of Okinawan pottery.
The result are pictorially inclined linework on the surfaces of his functional tea
wares that rise in a slight relief from a thick clay slip on the surface of the
ceramic, creating a cohesive naturalism that incorporates the hand of the artist.
Kinjo Jiro hails from Okinawa and was designated a Living National Treasure in
1985. Born in 1912 in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Kinjo began his career in
ceramics at the young age of 13. He was heavily influenced by “Tsuboya-yaki”
pottery that originated during the Ryukyu Dynasty. He built his own climbing kiln
or Noborigama in Yomitan, the home of Okinawan pottery. The result are pictorially inclined linework on the surfaces of his functional tea
wares that rise in a slight relief from a thick clay slip on the surface of the
ceramic, creating a cohesive naturalism that incorporates the hand of the artist.