Tatsuzo Shimaoka

Sir Hugh Cortazzi writes: Your obituary of Tatsuzo Shimaoka (December 18) gave a good account of his achievements but did not say much about him as a person.

We first got to know him in the 1960s when I was serving in the British Embassy in Tokyo and frequently visited him at his home in Mashiko. He was a generous host with much personal charm and a warm smile. Unlike some great artists he never became arrogant or conceited.

He made many trips to Europe and North America where his pots were exhibited. On one occasion in 1987 when some of his pots were being displayed at Liberty's, he and his wife stayed with us in Sussex. He also had exhibitions at the Gallerie Besson in London. In 1987 he gave a fine pot to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The large plate that he gave us on our departure from Tokyo in 1984 is now in the British Museum. Other pots by him have been loaned by us to the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and it is our intention that the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, also in Norwich, will in due course receive most of our Shimaoka collection which we collected over the years, and to which Shimaoka regularly and generously contributed.

Shimaoka was a patient and kind teacher to the many British and foreign potters who studied at his studio in Mashiko. He was more than just the successor to Shoji Hamada, who lived next door to him in Mashiko. His ceramics were inspired and of outstanding beauty.

His wife, who predeceased him,

was happy looking after him and cultivating their garden. When she accompanied him on his travels she supported him with simple dignity and kindness.