Shoji Hamada & Janet Leach

Shoji Hamada and Janet Leach met at BMC during a ten day session with Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, Dr. Soetsu Yanagi, and Marguerite Wildenhain, who served as host potter. Hamada turned the direction of the session around at BMC. While initially slides were shown and lectures were given, Hamada did what he knew. He sought clay and weeds from the mountainous area that reminded him of his native country. He then produced a tray full of works that he sold for one to two dollars.

Janet Leach (then Janet Darnell) met her husband Bernard Leach at the same session at BMC. Hamada was impressed with Janet Leach’s ability to throw clay and use a few punches to turn it into a pot. Leach studied with Hamada for two years in Japan, and she was the first foreign woman to study ceramics in Japan. Hamada was an instrumental figure in the foundation of Dr. Soetsu’s Japanese craft movement known as Mingei. However, Janet Leach did not follow in this movement.