Shoji Hamada was born in 1894 and was introduced to art at an early age by a
relative who was at the Tokyo School of Fine Art. In 1912 he saw some of
Leach's work while out for a wild night in the Ginza. The following year (i.e.
when he finally recovered!) he enrolled at the Ceramics Department of the Tokyo
Advanced Technical College. After he graduated he mooched around for a while
hanging out with the likes of Kanjiro Kawai and Kenkichi Tomimoto. Oh, and Bernard
Leach, of course.
In 1920, (after Bernard Leach had discovered him in the suitcase - see above), the
pair of then raided the British Museum to study early British slipware before
heading off to St. Ives where they spent the next three years setting up the
pottery (and trying to find a parking space).
Hamada returned to Japan after the Tokyo Earthquake in 1924 (well, I suppose
it was better than returning just before it!), although he also continued to
travel the world with lecture tours and expeditions. He often returned to
England and the Leach Pottery, so much so that his regular contact with Bernard
Leach led to him being suspected of being a spy during WW2. (Well, it's obvious,
isn't it? Who can forget that 'day of infamy' when Japanese forces wiped out
most of the American ceramics industry at Pearl Harbour!).
Post-WW2 Hamada continued to flit about the world, picking up a number of
gongs in the process. Apart from the usual honourary doctorates and things of
that ilk he was one of the first four Japanese to be awarded the title of Living
National Treasure in 1955. (Actually, he was a British National Treasure but we
sold him to Japan like we've done with all our other national treasures!).