Makoto Ito, a central figure in Japan's studio glass movement and glass art education in the country, passed away on June 4, 2024, at the age of 84. Ito started as a painter, graduating from the painting department of Tama Art University. However, after a six-year stint as a glassblower at the Kagami Crystal factory, he decided to pursue glass art after seeing a European glass exhibition. Dedicated to advancing the material at home, Ito helped build the foundations for the studio glass movement in Japan.
Takeshi Fuchida, curator at the Tama Art University's museum and friend of Ito, writes: "It was in Paris that he first came into contact with the charm of glass, at the Baccarat exhibition in the Museum of Decorative Arts. He was deeply impressed by the interesting aspects of glass and its 'contemporary' nature as a material."
In 1976, Ito founded a glass education department in the 3D Design department at Tama Art University, the same university he himself had graduated from. It was the first university glass art program in the country. Since then he has participated in numerous solo exhibitions, planned exhibitions, and lectured both in Japan and overseas. In the 1980s, he took the lead in organizing and running the Glass Art Society's Japan conference. In 1998, the glass course at Tama Art University expanded to become the Department of Crafts, Ceramic, Glass and Metal, and Ito was a prime contributor to this new incarnation, and he was especially proud of the new glass studio.
Ito had his own career as a talented glass artist, and helped to transform the perception of the medium of glass as an art material in Japan. He was also a generous teacher dedicated to making glass education more accessible in his country, and internationally. His educational philosophy has been instilled in students, both in Japan and overseas.