Naomi Mori森奈保美

Naomi Mori was born in Oita, in southern Japan, in 1970. She taught at a ceramic arts school before entering Arita College of Ceramics in 2004. After completing the ceramic arts program at this college, she was selected as a researcher for the Meiji Imari Revival Project initiated by an Imari researcher, Takanori Kamochi. She was involved in reproducing Meiji era (1868-1913) Imari porcelain. She was attracted by Meiji Imari which were hand-painted with a fine brush and enchanted by the beauty of traditional Imari patterns. She spent five years investigating and reproducing Meiji Imari patterns.

Specializing in Meiji Imari, Mori became independent and currently produces porcelain which are hand-painted based on the Meiji Imari style. She is one of the rare ceramic artists who hand-paints Imari porcelain. Today, most ceramic artists trace the surface of porcelain using paper with patterns, rather than hand-painting the patterns.