Nature, that miraculous giver of life, has been a source of inspiration for many Japanese artists, potters included, for many a century. Whether it be in floral motifs or the naturalness of their chosen materials or birds in flight, nature has played a conscious role in shaping the thoughts and vessels of Japanese potters.

This is due in part to the way of tea and its connection with Zen; it's been said that there is no tea without Zen. Yet some potters have forsaken the cherished chawan (tea bowl) and still find inspiration from nature in other ways, by re-creating forms in the natural world like mountains, stones, rippling water, vegetables or snow.

One such Japanese ceramic artist is Yasuyoshi Sugiura, who is showing his wonderfully creative pottery at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi's sixth-floor gallery until April 24. Titled "To no Hakubutsu Shi (Ceramic Natural History Exhibition)," Sugiura's exhibition is alive with forms and motions more often found at the seashore, on a walk through the woods or a garden than in a prestigious gallery. Pastel-colored shells or kinetically vibrant sea urchins (uni -- love that sushi, don't you?) reach out to the viewer in surrealistic ways, particularly the uni, the moss and the durian trees' seed.