Ando Hidetake (b. 1938) was named an Important Prefectural Cultural Property in 2003, a status towards that of a Living National Treasure for his work on the research and revival of Mino ceramics which encompass Seto and Shino wares.
In his own words..
"What is so wonderful about Mino ware is this relation to nature, the uniqueness of every firing and every piece, and of course the inspiration from the old masters. But you should never try to imitate what they did. Conditions then were completely different. They didn’t have access to boundless information, for example, like we do. What we need to do is to try to take our pottery even further in our own unique way, finding our own personal way of expressing ourselves. That is my path. Mino ware is in many ways the very pillars of Japanese pottery...dating back to the Momoyama era - the golden age of Mino pottery.

Ando Hidetake only uses clay from the Mino area where he works walking around in the mountains trying to find the clay needed to make classic Shino and other Mino ware. “True Mino ware cannot be made from clay you buy.” The works of Hidetake Ando have their own style, with the depth and thickness of the atmosphere different from those of conventional ones.


He is exhibited in many museums including the Brooklyn and Newark museums in the USA.