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Classification
metal

金森正起

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Masaki Kanamori

Masaki Kanamori was born in Nagoya into a family in the steel industry. After university he lived in the Tohoku region, then visited blacksmith workshops and trained under the metal artist Nobuo Matsuoka. From 2006 he lived in Ena, Gifu Prefecture, and from 2007 he kept a workshop in Nagoya, making architectural metalwork and daily-life tools. In 2014 he acquired an abandoned property in a nearby mountain area, and in 2019 he opened a small museum, Shou Shou. [8, 11]

Profile

Background

Masaki Kanamori was born in Nagoya into a family involved in the steel industry. As a child he assumed he would eventually take over his father's factory, so he entered an industrial university and after graduation joined a major machine-tool company. After roughly two years he left because he wanted to make things directly by hand rather than remain inside industrial machinery culture.

Kanamori spent time pursuing rural life and forestry, then around 2000 began visiting blacksmiths and other makers to understand hand production. In 2003 he apprenticed under iron sculptor Nobuo Matsuoka. By 2006–07 he had established his own working base and was making both architectural hardware and ordinary household tools. His work includes hinges, fittings, furniture-scale work, cooking/serving tools and older found objects.

In 2014 he acquired an abandoned building in the mountains, and in 2019 began the small museum/project 小小 / Shou Shou. Kanamori repeatedly studies old tools and anonymous objects as accumulated solutions.

Practice

Architectural metalwork and daily-life tools, ranging from doors, nameplates and post boxes to lighting, vessels and objects. [25, 8]

Work over time

  1. Education Graduated from Aichi Institute of Technology; Gallery NAO MASAKI dates his graduation to 1999. · Aichi Institute of Technology [27, 31]
  2. Lived in northeastern Japan after university Lived in Tohoku after graduating; Obscura says he spent a year alone there snowboarding. · Tohoku, Japan [33, 11]
  3. Practice milestone Began visiting blacksmiths and other makers, where he met ironwork (Motion Gallery: field blacksmiths in Aichi, Gifu and Nagano in his twenties). [9, 27, 30]
  4. Apprenticeship Apprenticed to the metal artist Nobuo Matsuoka; Obscura Magazine's chronology and the gallery yamahon artist page date this to 2001. · Teacher: Nobuo Matsuoka. Period: 2001. [11, 26]
  5. Encounter with ironwork By his own chronology, 'met iron work' (鉄の仕事に出会う), distinguished from the later apprenticeship. [40]
  6. Apprenticeship Apprenticed to Nobuo Matsuoka; Gallery NAO MASAKI's chronology dates this to 2003, which differs from the 2001 date in other sources. · Teacher: Nobuo Matsuoka. Period: 2003. [8]
  7. Apprenticeship By his own chronology, studied under 松岡信夫 (Matsuoka Nobuo). · Teacher: 松岡信夫. Period: 2003. [40]
  8. Employment Worked for a year as a forest planter in Ena and obtained an antique dealer's licence. · Ena, Gifu, Japan [11]
  9. Left apprenticeship Left the apprenticeship under Matsuoka Nobuo in order to find what he wanted to make (his chronology on the gallery page). [37]
  10. Employment Worked at a forestry cooperative in Ena, Gifu, while starting his own work, and obtained an antique-dealer licence to attend trade markets (his chronology on the gallery page). · Ena, Gifu, Japan [37]
  11. Relocation By his own chronology, lived in Kamiyahagi-cho (上矢作町), Gifu Prefecture. · 上矢作町 (Kamiyahagi-cho), Gifu, Japan [40]
  12. Relocation Moved to Kamiyazaki-cho, Ena City, Gifu Prefecture. · Ena, Gifu Prefecture, Japan [8, 27]
  13. Studio Open Opened a workshop in Nagoya and began making architectural metalwork and daily-life tools. · Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan [8, 27]
  14. Acquired abandoned property Acquired an abandoned building and surrounding woodland in a mountain area near Nagoya. [8, 11]
  15. Opened Shou Shou museum Opened a small art museum, Shou Shou. [8]
  16. 森谷会 satoyama conservation group With garden designer Kakuya Midori, runs 森谷会, which holds monthly workshops to conserve the satoyama around the Kamagaki no Komichi in Seto (his MotionGallery text). · Seto, Aichi, Japan [34]
  17. Crowdfunding campaign Crowdfunding campaign to restore the Kato Nakaemon house in Seto's Kamagaki no Komichi as a craft and art cultural facility closed having reached its ¥4,000,000 target (¥4,173,000 from 121 backers). · Seto, Aichi, Japan [34]
  18. cultural facility opening The cultural facility 小小 (Shou Shou), founded by Kanamori and Lin Qixiang in the restored Kato Nakaemon house at Seto, opened with the commemorative exhibition 'Shou Shou no Tomoshibi' (special opening day 2025-10-19). · 小小 (Shou Shou), Aichi, Japan [38, 28]

Bibliography

Evidence and sources

References

  1. 生活工芸展 2024 不易流行 — gallery yamahon
  2. 百草の25年から見えてきた生活工芸
  3. 3 materials — Hida Sangyo / Yuhokan
  4. 金森正起 / Masaki Kanamori — yamahon online store
  5. Makiko Ogomori × Masaki Kanamori — yamahon 2020 schedule
  6. 生活工芸展 2025 — gallery yamahon
  7. 酒の器展 — gallery yamahon
  8. Masaki Kanamori — Gallery NAO MASAKI
  9. 金森正起 / Masaki Kanamori — Gallery NAO MASAKI
  10. vol.107 Masaki Kanamori — Gallery NAO MASAKI
  11. The Accidentally Formed Beauty — Obscura Magazine
  12. Metalworks — Obscura Magazine
  13. Antiques and Vintage Items As Mentor — Obscura Magazine
  14. The Beauty of Shoddy Goods — Obscura Magazine
  15. 手の応答：生活工芸の作家たち — Kogei Seika
  16. 手の応答 catalogue / Kogei Seika blog archive
  17. gallery 白田 / Hakuden
  18. 100 gifts — Galerie Momogusa
  19. Masaki Kanamori category — Galerie Momogusa store
  20. Galerie Momogusa exhibition archive
  21. 金森正起 — OKAZ DESIGN / Kamoshika tools
  22. Masaki Kanamori — MotionGallery creator page
  23. Kamagaki no Komichi project — MotionGallery
  24. Seikatsu Kogei: Objects for Intentional Living — Japan Foundation, Sydney
  25. アートと実用をそなえた鉄の造形美を堪能。「金森正起 鉄の仕事展」が始まります。 (Pen Online) Retrieved 2026-10-02
  26. 金森 正起 (Masaki Kanamori) — gallery yamahon online store artist page Retrieved 2026-10-02
  27. 金森正起 鉄のうつわ＋いろいろ展 (京都で遊ぼうART) Retrieved 2026-10-02
  28. 小小 (Shou Shou) Retrieved 2026-10-02
  29. access — 小小 (Shou Shou) Retrieved 2026-10-02
  30. 金森 正起 — Motion Gallery Retrieved 2026-10-02
  31. gallery yaichi | permanent artist | 金森正起 -Masaki Kanamori- Retrieved 2026-10-02
  32. 小小のともしび (Dokkatouyu) Retrieved 2026-10-02
  33. 金森正起 - koten-navi Retrieved 2026-10-02
  34. 焼きもののまち瀬戸市「窯垣の小径」の古民家を修復して工藝と美術文化施設をつくるプロジェクト (MotionGallery) Retrieved 2026-10-03
  35. 金森正起 - 夏至 geshi | 長野 (Wayback copy, 19 Feb 2026) Retrieved 2026-10-03
  36. 金森正起 contact (Wayback copy of www17.plala.or.jp/kanamori, 2025-03-08) Retrieved 2026-10-03
  37. 暮らしの造形Ⅳ 金森正起・humoresque - ギャルリももぐさ (2014) Retrieved 2026-10-03
  38. Nao Masaki: 小小開館記念展「小小のともしび」 participation notice Retrieved 2026-10-03
  39. 3 materials: Iron, Glass, Wood, organized by Hida Sangyo (Yuhokan HIDA GALLERY) Retrieved 2026-10-03
  40. 金森正起 profile (former official site, Wayback 2025-03-08) Retrieved 2026-10-03