This special drop-in event brings together British studio potter Lisa Hammond MBE and Japanese ceramicist Yamada Yōji for an afternoon of live demonstrations exploring each maker’s individual approaches to craft and material.

Featured in Japan House London’s exhibition Hyakkō: 100+ Makers from Japan, Yamada Yōji previously trained in soda glazing at Lisa Hammond’s studio, Maze Hill Pottery.

Reunited at Japan House London, the two makers introduce audiences to the techniques that shape their practices, including wheel-throwing, slip decoration and hand-building.

Complementing the talk and demonstration event on 25 January, this drop-in event offers a more informal and personal encounter with the makers and their craft. Visitors are welcome drop in at any time during the three-hour session, subject to Hall capacity, observing the makers at work and engaging with them as they create.

Hyakkō: 100+ Makers from Japan is on display in the Gallery at Japan House London from 3 December until 10 May 2026.

*Please note that filming and / or photography may take place at this event. Photos and footage of the event may then be used to promote Japan House London, helping more people to discover what we offer. If you have any concerns, please contact us online or contact a member of the team on site.

About the speakers

Lisa Hammond MBE

Lisa Hammond is a soda-glaze and Shino potter who works at Maze Hill Pottery in Greenwich, London and has been a lecturer for over 45 years. She produces high-temperature, functional ware, using raw glazing with slip and a palette of firing schedules to achieve rich colour and texture. In recent years, she has developed a body of work titled Soda Shino, inspired by Japanese Mino ware, using Shino glazes fired alongside slipware pots in a soda kiln. Her work is held in galleries, museums and private collections worldwide. She is an Honorary Member of the Craft Potters Association and founder and Chair of Adopt a Potter Charitable Trust and Clay College Stoke. She was awarded an MBE in 2016 for services to Ceramics and Preservation of Craft Skills.

Yamada Yōji

Born in Shiga Prefecture in 1980, Yamada Yōji studied ceramics at the Shigaraki Ceramic Research Institute. Inspired by historic British slipware, he moved to the UK in 2007 and trained in soda glazing under Lisa Hammond MBE at Maze Hill Pottery. After returning to Japan, he worked at Furutani Seitō before establishing his own practice in Shigaraki. His work explores functional ceramic forms and the traces (patterns) left by unforced, improvised hand movements, drawing on the inherent qualities of materials. He is engaged in the production of slipware-inspired ceramics using familiar raw materials and local kilns.