Japanese National Living Treasure Collection

A collection of thirty-five tea bowls and sets of cups made by potters with the Japanese National Living Treasure designation was given to the ASU Ceramics Research Center in 2017. The National Living Treasure program, founded in Japan in 1950, recognizes leading artists in designated fields as bearers of intangible cultural properties. The ASU collection is comprised of pieces made by every potter who has been named a National Living Treasure, from Shoji Hamada in 1955 to Kato Kozo in 2010. The collection will go on permanent display at the ASU Ceramics Research Center at the Brickyard in Fall 2018. Sharing the National Living Treasure ceramics collection in the ASU Digital Repository is the next step in the process of increasing awareness about ASU’s rising status as a center of Asian art research.