Tatsuzo Shimaoka

In 1946 Shimaoka began his apprenticeship with the potter Shōji Hamada in Mashiko, Japan. The formal apprenticeship ended in 1949. After working for three years at the Tochigi Prefecture Ceramic Research Center, in 1953 Shimaoka set up his own pottery next door to his former teacher Shoji. The following year he gave his first exhibition, it was held in Tokyo. 1963 saw the first of his yearly exhibitions in Tokyo's Matsuya Ginza department store. He would later go on to also have yearly exhibitions at Hankyu department store in Osaka.[3] Shimaoka's first American exhibition was held in Boston in 1974, his first European exhibition was at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (Museum of Arts and Crafts) in 1977. Over the years Shimaoka has frequently lectured and taught in the United States and Canada.