Kasai Taizo

Kasai Taizo was born in Takaoka, in Toyama Prefecture, where he lived and worked all his life. He was first accepted into the Nitten in 1950, and he won the tokusen (grand prize) there in 1963 and again in 1970. Beyond Japan, his work was also exhibited in the United States (1952) and in West Germany (1976). In 1971, Kasai was commissioned to make a flower vase for the Imperial Household Agency, and in 1989 he was awarded the Ministry of Education prize at the Nihon Gendai Kogei Bijutsuten (Japan Contemporary Art and Crafts Exhibition). Kasai was a member of the Nitten committee, as well as an association executive of the Japan Contemporary Art and Craft Artists Association.