Shimizu Uichi (1926-2004) was a leading Kyoto-based artist who, in his later years, moved his workshop north of Kyoto to the western shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. He was renowned for his experiments into the recreation of historical Chinese ceramic types. A member of the Japan Crafts Association (Nihon Kogeikai) since 1958, he was appointed a Living National Treasure in 1985, thereby achieving equality with his former teacher and mentor Ishiguro Munemaro (1893-1968), Japan's most celebrated exponent of early Chinese ceramic styles.