Atsuya Hamada is the third son of Shoji Hamada (see Acc. no. 1996.184), one of Japan's most prominent twentieth century ceramicists. Atsuya first served as an apprentice to his father after leaving school, before going on to study with the British studio potter Bernard Leach at the Leach Pottery in St Ives between 1957 and 1958. Atsuya travelled in Europe and the United States in the late 1950s before returning to his father's studio in Mashiko. In 1979 Atsuya established his own kiln and studio in Ohsawa, Mashiko.