Shoko Suzuki and her Brazilian noborigama

in ,

Starworks' International Wood Firing Conference, Sustain: Woodfire NC 2025, took place in North Carolina in May of 2025. In addition to being a presenter, had work in the concurrent exhibition, Woodfire NC Exhibition, curated by John Neely.

Below is an extensive list of resources on Shoko's life and work, and the research behind my talk at the conference—including material that didn't get into my presentation.

Shoko is worth knowing. Read on.

 
 

Via Impressa

Book – “A Poética de Shoko Suzuki”
Organized by Ivone Nakamura, Neide Caldas, Sônia Bogaz, and Sumaya Mattar; essays by Jacob Klintowitz, João A. Frayze-Pereira, and Maria Amélia Pereira; images by Romulo Fialdini and Fabio Matsuura. (2019, 🇧🇷 PT, 🇬🇧 EN)
Note: Small edition, no reprints planned. To acquire a copy, contact me and I’ll provide you with the contact information of the person who's handling them.

Ivone Nakamura – Shoko's apprentice
Studio website Atelier Terra Bela
Instagram @atelierterrabela
Magazine feature – Excerpt: The serene harmony of Ivone Shirahata’s artistic ceramics / A serena harmonia da cerâmica artística de Ivone Shirahata (Simone Cristina Garcia, Revista GAMA, 2021, 🇬🇧 EN, 🇧🇷 PT, PDF). View complete issue (🇬🇧 EN, 🇧🇷 PT , PDF)

Photographers
Romulo Fialdini
Fabio Matsuura
Tinko Czetwertynski

Galleries & Exhibitions
Gomide&Co – Artist Page and Catalogue
Chen Kong Fang and Shoko Suzuki at Art Basel Hong Kong (Gomide&Co, 2024, 🇬🇧 EN)
O Curso do Sol / The Sun’s Path (Gomide&Co, 2023, 🇧🇷 PT, 🇬🇧 EN)

Features and Interviews
From Japan to Brazil: The ceramics of Shoko Suzuki (Garland Magazine, 2021, 🇬🇧 EN)
A ceramista japonesa Shoko Suzuki e peças feitas em forno medieval (Casa Claudia, Nov–Dec 2012, 🇧🇷 PT)
「とても光栄、責任感新たに」＝令和３年春・秋の叙勲伝達式 (Brazil-Nippō, Aug 2023, 🇯🇵 JP)
O barro é vida… e pode ser espírito, também! (Revista Sesc SP, 2017, 🇧🇷 PT)

Videos
Shoko: Expressão do Cosmos (Museu A Casa do Objeto Brasileiro, 2013, 🇧🇷 PT)
Arte da cerâmica com Shoko Suzuki (O Beijo, 2017, 🇧🇷 PT)

Academic Papers, Theses & Curatorial Essays
“Suzuki Shoko: relato da trajetória de vida de uma mulher ceramista entre o Brasil e o Japão.” Estudos Japoneses 32 117-130. – 13-page peer-reviewed article based on oral interviews; covers birth name, samurai-lineage family, wartime evacuation, decision to emigrate in 1962, and early years in São Paulo. (Morais, 2012, 🇧🇷 PT)
Shoko Suzuki: na intimidade da terra (Mattar, 2017, 🇧🇷 PT)
Two Japanese Women Ceramists in Brazil: Identity, Culture and Representation (Morais, 2016, 🇬🇧 EN)
Shoko Suzuki e Mieko Ukeseki: duas mulheres ceramistas entre o Japão e o Brasil (Pages 59-88 – Morais, 2014, 🇧🇷 PT)
Suzuki Shoko: relato da trajetória de vida de uma mulher ceramista entre o Brasil e o Japão (Morais, 2012, 🇧🇷 PT)
Mingei in Brazil (Morais, 🇬🇧 EN)

Personal and Family History
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays award, Autumn Decorations, Consulate-General of Japan, São Paulo. (Press release, 2021, 🇧🇷 PT, 🇯🇵 JP)
Passenger list of the ship Argentina Maru (arrived at the Port of Santos on May 11,1962), listing Yukio and Shoko Suzuki among the passengers, page 46, passengers number 80 and 81. (Museum of Immigration of the State of São Paulo, digital collection, 🇧🇷 PT)
Firebombing of Yokohama – The Command's last major raid of May was a daylight incendiary attack on Yokohama on 29 May conducted by 517 B-29s escorted by 101 P-51s. This force was intercepted by 150 A6M Zero fighters, sparking an intense air battle in which five B-29s were shot down and another 175 damaged. In return, the P-51 pilots claimed 26 "kills" and 23 "probables" for the loss of three fighters. The 454 B-29s that reached Yokohama struck the city's main business district and destroyed 6.9 square miles (18 km2) of buildings; over 1000 Japanese were killed. (Wikipedia)
Portrait of Shoko's grandfather, Ōshima Teishū, from the “Portrait Photograph Album,” Army section, commissioned by Emperor Meiji in 1879 (year Meiji 12). (🇯🇵 JP)
Entry in the Dajōkan Daily Record (Issue 75) documenting the promotion of Ōshima Teishū from army sergeant-major to infantry second lieutenant. (1874, 🇯🇵 JP)

 
 

Romulo Fialdini