The ceramicist, kiln designer, painter and astronomer known for the ecofriendly smokefree ceramic kiln he designed, Masakazu Kusakabe died. Kusakabe has built smokefree ceramic kilns not only in Japan but also in Canada, Britain, Czech Republic, USA, China and Turkey.
Ceramicist, kiln designer, painter and astronomer Masakazu Kusakabe (1946-2023) lost his struggle with cancer and bid farewell to life at his 77 on 2nd February. Being a versatile artist, Kusakabe's most important invention was the ecofriendly smokefree ceramic kiln. With this kiln, he has not only appreciated in Japan but built smokefree ceramic kilns also in Canada, Britain, Czech Republic, USA, China and Turkey. He has been invited to symposiums and conferences in Hungary, USA, Britain and many other countries around the globe. Having dozens of kilns in various places around the world today, Kusakabe has allowed for it to be remanufactured in different places to be used by traditional potters in countries like Mexico and contributed in rising of traditional pottery production fired in wood kilns.
In Masakazu Kusakabe's book he wrote together with Marc Lancet titled “Japanese Wood-Fired Ceramics”, the methods, materials and aesthetical taste of Japanese wood firing have been described to the very finest details and includes valuable information on a tradition of about thousands years.
