The 16th biennial "Nihon Togei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition)" at Tokyo's Daimaru Museum is a must-see for anyone interested in the current ceramics scene.

Started in 1971 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Mainichi Shimbun, the exhibition attracts many of the finest established ceramics artists in the land as well as up-and-coming younger artists. The juried exhibition is unique in the fact that it's divided into three distinct sections: dento (traditional), zen'ei (avant-garde) and jitsuyo toki (practical utensils).

This year, a total of 220 items are on display -- 157 works selected from the 933 pieces submitted, plus works by 58 invited potters, including 12 living national treasures.

This year's grand prize and the recipient of the Katsura no Miya Prize went to Seto ceramist Morinobu Toda for his zen'ei work titled "This End Up 0103," a mixed-media work comprised of a wooden box with metal fittings and a number of ceramic lumps, sticks and shell forms inside. Each of the interior ceramic pieces, which reminded me somewhat of fishing lures, has the artist's name stamped on it. It's an atarashii kaze (new breeze) for this exhibition to have such a zen'ei piece selected for top honors.

Also look out for outstanding works by Hyoue Imai, Yasuyoshi Kubota, Masahiko Hashimoto, Ryoichi Munakata, Hikaru Yamada and Yukio Yoshida.