Inoue Manji Japanese, Living National Treasure, 1929

Inoue Manji was born in 1929, learning to specialize in Arita ware—a traditionally colorful pottery form. Soon, however, he began working in white porcelain and became celebrated worldwide for the graceful medium. Hakuji is created by pouring a transparent glaze over white clay (Kaolin) and firing at a high temperature. Inoue demands perfection in shape and is known to be unforgiving, rejecting even a millimeter of distortion. He states that, “hakuji expresses itself through form rather than added decoration,” and his pieces exemplify this truth through refined curves and purely rounded forms rather than distracting surface decor. Simple lines belie their power as viewers’ eyes are lost in the infinite depth of pure white peaks and valleys. The smooth, soft, silky surface of these delicately hardened forms characterizes the unmatched beauty of Manji’s work.