Tokuda Yasokichi III 徳田 八十吉 1933-2009

Born in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

As the eldest son of Tokuda Yasokichi II and after having withdrawn from the Kanazawa Arts and Crafts College, he helped his father to pursue the traditional family ceramic business. He learned the traditional methods of kutani glaze preparation and decoration from his grandfather, Tokuda Yasokichi I. At first Tokuda confined himself to traditional style pieces with a modern flavor. However, after 1973, he was prompted by his peers to develop a personal style. He invented a technique that enabled him to control the suffusion of kutani color glazes, creating a starburst effect that is, according to the artist, "somewhat in the manner of modern color-field painters such as Mark Rothko." Tokuda was designated a National Living Treasure in 1997 for porcelain with colored glazes.