A Life Etched in Clay: The World of Miyangawa Masu The name Miyangawa Masu, often appearing alongside that of Minagawa Masu, evokes a quiet corner of 19th-century Japan—the pottery town of Mashiko. Born in 1874, her life unfolded against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, a period of rapid modernization and cultural shift. While grand narratives of industrialization often dominate accounts of this era, Masu’s story offers an intim…