Yukio Yamamoto

Now deceased, Yukio Yamamoto came to be a welcomed guest of Northern Arizona beginning in the mid-eighties.  He first went to Arizona State University where Donald Bendel first met him.  He was invited to visit Flagstaff and the University, he fell in love with this pine tree area which was not dissimilar to his home in Himeji, Japan. He together with Donald Bendel and many in Flagstaff built the Naborigama Kiln at the University.  He had been a teacher and then much earlier had built his own ceramic facility and wood-fired kiiln which became a focal point in the Hemiji region.

 

Yukio studied the history of pottery of the past centuries of this well known Hemiji Castle domain.

He revived the wood fired process based on the anagama and Naborigama (many chambered kilns.)  His own kiln produced wonderful works with rich ash glazes, which he brought with him for exhibition in the mid-eighties.

 

He and his wife Miwako and family were wonderful hosts to many of us at his studio and the Hemiji City over the years.  For his contribution to NAU, he received an Honorary doctors degree.

  

 

Yamamoto