Beginning in the 1910s, pioneering ceramic artists such as Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886–1963), Hamada Shoji (1894–1978), Kitaōji Rosanjin (1883–1959), and Kusube Yaichi (1897–1984) began to treat vessels as vehicles for individual expression. Their innovations established the “object-vessel” as a significant mode of modern ceramic art. In the postwar period, artists like Kamoda Shoji (1933–1983) expanded this trajectory. Within this lineage, Tsuboshima Dohei (1929–2013) emerges as a figure in the world of ceramic connoisseurship, further expanding the expressive potential of the vessel through his skillfully expressive object-vessels.
Entrance to the Hironaga Kiln grounds, Kawakita & Tsuboshima's shared kiln space in 2025 (now renamed Senkaku Kiln).
Image of the shared kiln of Kawakita Handeishi and Tsuboshima Dohei.
Born in Osaka, Tsuboshima became the apprentice of the banker, respected potter, scholar, painter, and art collector Kawakita Handeishi (1878–1963) in 1946 at the age of seventeen. The influence of Kawakita’s multifaceted background is indisputable: He worked closely with Handeishi for seventeen years, eventually succeeding him as head of the Hironaga kiln in 1963. While Handeishi focused largely on tea ceramics, Tsuboshima broadened this scope, producing tea bowls alongside tableware, vases, and large-scale works. His painting style– gestural, rhythmic, and expansive– infuses traditional Rinpa-style painted motifs of flora, fauna, and landscapes with a free-spirited vitality that reflects both his inherited sense of freedom from Kawakita, and his own innovative variations and riffs on traditional painted motifs.
Image of a platter by Tsuboshima Dohei held in the museum of Hironaga Kiln (now renamed Senkaku kiln).
Tsuboshima’s breadth is striking. His stoneware reflects historic Japanese styles such as Oribe, Karatsu, Ko-Seto, and Iga ware, often enriched with Kyoto-style embellishments in silver and gold. His porcelain demonstrates a deep engagement with Chinese decorative traditions, from underglaze-blue landscapes to late-Ming inspired overglaze red and green designs, one example of which is held in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. These connections reveal his sensitivity to literati taste and the enduring influence of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange, particularly linked to sencha practices of the 19th century.
Three works by Tsuboshima Dohei. Browse available works by the artist here.
With a background in Chinese painting, Tsuboshima developed an eclectic style that resists classification by technique. His works range from Shino- and Oribe-glazed wares to expressive porcelain in Aka-e decoration, always prioritizing creative freedom over adherence to convention. At first glance, his ceramics may appear to diverge from Handeishi’s, yet they share the same spirit of refinement, independence, and generosity.
Tsuboshima Dohei's Ming-dynasty inspired porcelain jar with high shoulders and images of a phoenix in the Aka-e style. Browse available works by the artist here.
A museum dedicated to Tsuboshima’s work now stands beside Handeishi’s former residence in Japan, underscoring the significance of his contribution. By reinterpreting diverse traditions with scholarly rigor and imaginative freedom, Tsuboshima Dohei forged a body of work that honors lineage while establishing a painted ceramic world expressed through forms and surfaces entirely his own.
Portrait of the artist. All images of Tsuboshima Dohei are courtesy of Senkaku Museum (formerly Hironaga Kiln), Japan.
Words provided by Dai Ichi Arts, LTD. an adapted text from the writing of Kazuko Todate & Daniel McOwan from their contributing exhibition catalog essays, August 2025.
