As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words and I don’t pretend to posse the ability to express in words the delicateness of the one-of-its-kind ceramics that HiDe’s gifted hands are able to bring to life, and I urge you to take a look at the photographs posted elsewhere on this site, or better yet, visit his studio to see these intricate pieces of work in it’s all glory.
HiDe magically shapes his clay into an often sought after, but seldom realized sublimating form where it is beautiful to see and touch while it manages to be practical at the same time. Most notable aspect of his work, in my opinion, is how he plays with the light. Unlike many other who consider fragility as a shortcoming of the ceramics, HiDe is able to use it for his advantage to create a stunning, yet subtle visual effects that are very warm, appealing and almost illusional. Needless to say, attaining such effect is not possible without simultaneously having both the vast pool of inspirations and the skills to substantiate it in a tangible form.

Our entourage rolled up here for a GF’s birthday “fun-thing-to-do” and it was indeed fun!  HiDe is a small ceramic-making studio that can accommodate all 8 of us for a private class and we operates on a 4 on foot wheel and 4 on table basis. The instructor HiDe started the class with bowl and vase demonstration while we were madly kneading the brown practise clay. The clay we use for the craft is the white clay which is easier to work with.

There are lots of feedback and support during class as the HiDe dances around to yield a helping hand. He is a gregarious person in a Japanese way- If you don’t like straight up feedback and are easily offended then you might be nettled by his teaching with comments such as “no that’s not possible to make that,” or “you should wait for me before you do that…” Lol

The cost is $47 for studio fee and $2.00/100g of clay. Once you are done with your work, you can pick a colour/glaze and he will do the rest and have you pick up your work 6 to 8weeks after.

HiDe has made bowls and dishes for Gyoza Bar and Miku and you can order similar items from him as well.

Can’t wait to pick up my work soon! Cheerio!

I have been coming to Hide’s regular class weekly for almost three years, and I have to say that Hide is a talented, knowledgeable and kind teacher. He always greets you with a big smile and a warm welcome. He treats every student equally and respectfully with humbleness and fairness. He shows care for students by always providing help and suggestions with his skills and knowledge, yet still leaving the space for students to be an independent thinker. He tries his best to run the studio with an organized system, so every student could get their finished pieces in a fair amount of time. Outside of class, Hide is a good friend who always listens to you and gives you feedback on life and on art making.

The flexible regular class is where I would learn the most from. It is based on a ticket system where you could buy a set of 5 tickets and 5 coupons, and come in anytime after a simple booking online (so to see if any space is available). The good thing about regular class is that you could do pottery and socialize with all these wonderful classmates, in an environment with good music and good tea. Not to mention that this is a rare chance in Vancouver to learn about Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-sabi from pottery making.

By being there for almost three years, I could see people coming for one day class almost every time I go for regular class. Hide is well prepared for the one day class with a systematic plan. He always starts the instruction with his funny jokes and have a consent form for students to sign. Then he would have everything set up for students, and guide them with simple instruction on how to build a bowl/vast/cup. The whole process looks easy and fun, and he will do all the messy works afterwards; you will just need to wait for a month to get the beautiful work! I know it is hard to deal with a number of things when having a business, but Hide always remains just, reasonable, and respectful when he faces problems and complains, and tries to solve the issue with the best he could offer. All in all, five stars!

HiDe’s classes have consistently been the highlight of my week for over a year. HiDe offers a unique ceramics experience both in his drop-in and regular class. It can be difficult to capture the essence of pottery in a 80-minute session, but I believe HiDe does a great job of it. Anyone who disagrees either has a wildly unrealistic expectation of pottery or wants their hand held through the whole process, which I believe is impossible to do and counterproductive to the whole experience. I would highly recommend anyone to try it out!

Such a great place. My girlfriend and I did the 80 minute class and made 3 mugs and a flower vase. Hide was outstanding to deal with and I highly recommend him. Especially as a fun date with your partner

I have been coming here weekly since February of 2014. It has been a wonderful experience. Hide is a talented and positive teacher. He instructs with passion and respect for the art form. He demonstrates his wealth of experience, but also pushes you to experiment and let your creativity shine. I always have a good time and I look forward to class every week.

We enjoyed participating in the creative process of designing the lights with Hide.
He looked at our house, asked us what we imagined, proposedvarious ideas and styles – and created unique pieces for each area.
Hide’s lights are warm, friendly, and yet sophisticated. They shine down upon our family each and every day. Now, we cannot picture our home without Hide’s lights, which add a very special touch to our recently renovated house from the 1920s

Hide is a great teacher. Im on my 12th lesson. It is guided teaching but still not too rigid. He is funny and very experienced. He can teach you how to make anything you want and you end up getting results fairly quickly. Awesome experience and i will keep coming back.

After returning to this fair city two years ago, I earnestly went about seeking a potter’s studio to realize my much-deferred aspiration to fashion, experiment, and conceive things with clay and hands. The serendipitous discovery of Hide’s Ceramic Works was as timely as it was fulfilling. In my first drop-in class, the instructor was exceedingly cordial, engaging, inquiring, accommodating, and gregarious. It was evident from that initial experience that I’ve found a magical, cozy space considerately set up for our creative self-expression and natural interchange of ideas. In short, Hide’s studio is a people’s place, a great and surprising nexus of minds; that was – and still is! – the reason why I keep coming back every week.

Took my best friend here for her birthday present. We did the 80 min class and Hide is a knowledgeable and friendly teacher. It was a little intimidating at first because my best friend and I haven’t touched clay or ceramics since high school! Hide showed us how to build a bowl and a cup. We decided we would both make big bowls and Hide encouraged us to have fun and if we had any questions to ask away. Once we were on the wheel, Hide kept reminding us to “have fun” and “enjoy” the moment…I’m sure he noticed we were stiff as heck with serious faces on. I really liked how he let us work on our clay by ourselves but would frequently come check up on us to make sure our clay was coming along and if it wasn’t, he would guide us in the right direction. Hide’s a great teacher who wants you to really have fun and enjoy his studio. My best friend and I took forever choosing colours and we were the last students too. Hide didn’t seem to mind and kept telling us to take our time and that we should choose which ever color we were first drawn to. It’s so true that color is subjective…colors my friend thought she saw a bit of blue in, I couldn’t see any blue at all. Thanks Hide for a great class and for being super friendly and providing just enough guidance. We were very happy with the class and with our big bowls.

Pricing is a little different than what’s on the website for a 80 min class. It’s $2.50 /100g with $12 studio fee and you choose the color and he glazes it for you. We can’t wait to pick up the bowls we made and start using them as servings bowls. We’re thinking of serving pasta or salads in our bowls. This is a great gift and bonding experience for loved ones or with a group of friends.

first time doing that, i made a heart shape noodle bowl and a cup in 80 mins, so much fun.