Born in Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture. He entered the Tokyo Higher Technical School and studied ceramics. In 1914 he joined the Kyoto Ceramic Testing Institute. In 1920 he took a house and kiln at Gojozaka, set up on his own and married. In 1921 he held the first exhibition of his own ceramics, and showed his work there for the rest of his life. He took Chinese old ceramics as his model at first; after the war he carried Yanagi’s mingei theory further and worked across a wide range of forms.