MORI Masahiro: Artist Biography
Biography of Japanese industrial designer specializing in ceramics
Biography of MORI Masahiro, pioneer of post-war Japanese industrial design in ceramics and creator of the porcelain G-type Soy Sauce Bottle
Although MORI Masahiro (b.1927 – d.November 12, 2005) may be an unfamiliar name, his award-winning ceramic designs radically transformed post-war Japanese tabletops and helped change the global perception that ‘Made in Japan’ meant cheap. He has designed more than 800 items in both Western and Japanese styles, many of which are still known and used worldwide.
An industrial designer specializing in ceramics, Mori revolutionized both the Japanese traditional ceramics industry and industrial design by fusing traditional ideas with a modern sensibility. Through his restrained, elegant, modernist designs, he influenced ceramic production and marketing, and even the education of craftsmen and designers who came after him.
Training
Mori was born in Saga Prefecture, the birthplace of famed Arita ware porcelain. In the latter part of high school, he was mobilized to make porcelain parts for WWII fighter planes. After the war, he spent two years as an apprentice to a local potter and then enrolled in Tama University of the Arts in Tokyo.
There, he spent his afternoons at the design centre where there was a library of design-related material from all over the world and was exposed to leading figures in every field of design in post-war Japan – although, at that time, none specialized in ceramics. Eventually, he became a researcher and assistant.
Mori's Creations For Hakusan
After graduation, he spent two years in editing and graphics before returning to his native Kyushu where he worked with ceramics in Nagasaki Prefecture for a further two years. Mori joined Hakusan Porcelain Company (Hakusan Toki Company Limited), a small factory in the pottery-producing town of Hasami, Nagasaki, as a product designer in 1956.
Mori is best known for his signature G-type Soy Sauce Bottle designed in 1957 for Hakusan. A delicate little jar-like lidded bottle (about the size of a tiny can of tomato paste) with an “elephant trunk” no-drip spout, it is surprisingly light to the touch and impressively balanced. This shoyusashi won theinaugural Good Design prize (commonly known as the G-mark) in 1960, and was awarded the Special Prize for Long-Selling Good Design Products by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO) in 1977. Originally priced at a reasonable 250 yen, this hallmark of industrial design has sold over 2.2 million units since 1958 and continues to be retailed at an affordable price.
He also experimented with various types of simple, multi-purpose tableware such as house- and heart-shaped party trays, irregularly shaped and textured Shell Bowls, 300 decorative variations on the Shallow Rice Bowl, whimsical handles in the Q-type Mug, and decorative finger holds on his porcelain whisky and sake cups. Other designs included sake servers Western-style teapots and cups, condiment sets, ashtrays and even creatively indented cups for the blind.
His ability to sense and effectively appeal to an increasingly affluent and Western-influenced Japanese society and accommodate changing needs, ideas, living standards and tastes secured him the Good Design Prize 111 times, making Mori the G-mark’s most celebrated designer. This award was established in 1960 by an arms-length body of the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry to select outstanding examples of industrial design fusing form and function. Selected work was also retailed in the Good Design Corner of the Matsuya department store in Ginza, established in 1955.
Other awards include the Gold for Industrial Ceramics at the Faenza International Ceramic Art Exhibition in 1975, a gold in Valencia, Spain in 1977, and the Gold from the Japan Ceramic Society in 1999.
Perhaps the secret of his success lies in his working philosophy, “My pleasure as a designer is to conceive of forms for daily use, and to create pieces for production in the factory so that many people can appreciate and enjoy them.” Towards this end, he worked to mass produce uniform products and offer these at affordable prices.
Mori's Independent Work
Later in his career, he pioneered the then-nascent concept of creating one-off designs in high volume runs – essentially mass manufacturing items with deliberate irregularities or creating designs which were offered in a range of decorative details. This mimicked qualities found in handmade objects and sought to re-introduce a level of diversity and individuality into factory-produced ware.
Although he had a good rapport with Hakusan, Mori left in 1978 to set up his own Mori Masahiro Industrial Design Laboratory in Ureshino, in Saga Prefecture. However, almost all his independent work continued to be produced by Hakusan, and much later, by a coalition of small factories operating under the name MUJI.
In 1961, Mori helped found the Kyushu Craft Designers Association, the only organization of its kind in Japan to focus on regional activities, and served as its first director. He also taught at Kyushu Sangyo University and the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music.
Read more about Mori's creations at Masahiro MORI Ceramics Exhibit which reviews a show by the Japan Foundation in Toronto, Canada.
Various sources including a 1994 interview between Mori and MIYAMOTO Mari.
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