Tamagawa Norio

Tamagawa Norio (b. 1942) was born in Niigata Prefecture and is a descendent of Kakubei Tamagawa, who founded the Gyokusendo company in 1816. Tamagawa was designated a Living National Treasure for his unique metal-hammering technique. Gyokusendo continues to create functional and decorative copperware using the tsuiki, or hand-hammered method. From 1963 to 1965, Tamagawa studied hammering techniques as an apprentice under Sekiya Shiro (Living National Treasure 1907-1994.) After his apprenticeship in Tokyo, Tamagawa returned home and re-joined the Gyokusendo company.