Potter, calligrapher, gourmet and cook. He first made his name as a calligrapher. Taking an interest also in food and in antiques, he opened the antique shop Taigado Geijutsuten in Tokyo in 1919, and before long began to make pottery. Without a particular master, he built on the technique and spirit he had learned from old art through an eye of his own, and produced highly original work. In 1955 he declined designation as a Living National Treasure.