Uichiro Oya- a second-generation potter from Echizen, a rural region of central Japan rich in pottery tradition dating to the middle of the 12th century.

Echizen products are made with the highest quality soil from the local region. In the past, Echizen potters used a coiling technique called nejitate; where clay is rolled into long, thin cord-like pieces and then curled up on top of itself to form a basic shape. It was fired in an anagama kiln, which was made by tunneling into the side of a mountain, a method still used today. This pottery is referred to as yakishime, because it is made without the use of any artificial glazes. Echizen pottery today is still made in wood-fired kilns, to keep the tradition alive.

Oya followed in the footsteps of his father. He produces two lines of work, one utilitarian, the other his sculptural figurines. When viewing his work, one is confronted by wide-eyed, smiling, animalistic creatures. “These toy-like figures are created to embody lighthearted warmth,” he said. He feels firing without glaze gives his work natural sequences of color and surfaces. “It gives my work the look as if it was born in nature rather than made by hand.”