Kōji Masubuchi is the leader of the Kōzan-gama kiln, a collective which is important in the modern identity of Kasama ceramics. Masubuchi’s kiln is able to operate at some scale, but does this as individual pottery artists working together.

In this sense Kōzan-gama is a guardian of Kasama’s supplier heritage to the capital region, while it upholds the ethos and identity of the town as a home for individual ceramicists. It means that the kiln can flexibly shift between pieces of ceramic art made by a single potter in residence, to extensive ranges for home and business use. Masubuchi is himself a potter, and guides his team in new explorations of form and glaze that accord with Kasama’s open traditions, and have been a launchpad for many ceramic careers.