Higuchi Masayuki comes from Gifu Prefecture where he studied ceramics from an early age, then sculpture at Nagoya University of the Arts, and then ceramics again when he apprenticed with the Bizen Living National Treasure Yamamoto Toshu in Western Japan’s Okayama Prefecture.

He is known for having reinvigorated the traditional Momoyama ceramics of the Mino region with a return to wood-firing. His apprenticeship in Okayama would have taught him the art of the flame, perhaps what Bizen wares are best known for. However Higuchi opts to fire most of his pots in saggars where they are protected from the atmospheric effects of wood-firing.

He fires his shino wares for 4 days in his anagama kiln, with the oribe wares taking 2 days. Foregoing the more common gas-firing process for the painstaking approach of an anagama kiln speaks to Higuchi’s desire to capture the natural atmosphere of Gifu - from the mogusa clay he digs himself, to the minerals for the glazes, and pine, cedar, and cypress used for fuel.

Higuchi threw this cylinder shaped cup and refers to it as a shuhan (酒呑) which translates roughly to a cup for alcohol or for sipping alcohol. As opposed to a guinomi which is specifically for drinking sake, a shuhan can be used for not just sake but also whiskey, tequila, or bourbon.  

Comes with the signed, stamped, and titled wood box, stamped wrapping cloth, and CV.