Hector Konomi is a Toronto-based potter and ceramic artist whose work brings the traditions of Japanese Tokoname teaware into dialogue with a contemporary Canadian context. Living and working in Toronto, Konomi creates functional ceramic vessels—most notably kyusu teapots and tea bowls—that emphasize restraint, balance, and the quiet expressiveness of clay shaped by fire. His practice is rooted in the Tokoname lineage of Tokoname, one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns and a region renowned for iron-rich clays used in traditional kyusu. These clays, often left unglazed on the interior, are prized for their ability to soften and deepen the flavor of green tea. Konomi trained in Tokoname City within the region’s master–apprentice system and is associated with Daikōji kiln, reflecting a close technical and cultural proximity to established Tokoname lineages. Born near the Bohai Sea, Konomi grew up surrounded by everyday craft traditions and natural clay environments. Early encounters with mud, riverbank clay, and handmade objects shaped his belief that functional ware carries memory and meaning through use. That sensibility remains central to his work today: vessels are meant to be handled, lived with, and slowly transformed over time. In Toronto, Konomi hand-builds and throws kyusu teapots, yuzamashi cooling pitchers, chawan tea bowls, cups, and select sculptural works. His forms are minimalist and disciplined, with visual interest concentrated in subtle decisions—spout angle, lid tension, wall thickness, and surface modulation. The result is work that feels inevitable in the hand: calm, balanced, and quietly alive.