Yoko Ozawa
Ceramic Artist (@yoko_ozawa)
Yoko is a ceramic artist where her pieces are inspired by nature. A key idea in her work is yohaku — leaving space empty on purpose. It’s the belief that empty space has value, and that what is left out matters just as much as what is included. This idea closely connects with MUJI’s design philosophy and the work of our creative director, Kenya Hara, who similarly places intentional blank space at the centre of his work.
She remembers visiting MUJI’s first store in Aoyama as a child.
She remembers visiting MUJI’s first store in Aoyama as a child.
I grew up with MUJI and I’ve respected the brand's creative director Kenya Hara for a long time. I was also in Melbourne when MUJI’s first store in Australia opened. Shortly after the store opening, I went to a talk at RMIT where I saw Kenya Hara speak.
I’m a big fan of his book ‘White’ where he speaks of the concept of emptiness and philosophical concepts that are within my own work too. For a long time, that book was like my bible.
