Nakashima Harumi was born in Gifu Prefecture in 1950, a region with a deep ceramic tradition. He studied at the Osaka University of Arts and Design, completing advanced studies in 1973. Strongly influenced by the avant-garde Sodeisha group, and particularly by his mentor Kumakura Junkichi, he chose to pursue ceramics not as a commercial practice but as a means of fulfilling an inner creative necessity.
After several formative years working in Shigaraki, he moved to Tajimi in 1976, where he joined the Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center. In 2003 he became head of the ceramics department at the Aichi Prefectural University of Education, mentoring a generation of artists who have since become leading figures in contemporary Japanese ceramics. From 2014, he has served as director of the Ishoken Ceramics Research Facility.
In 2010, he was awarded the prestigious Japan Ceramic Society Award. His work is held in major public collections in Japan and internationally, reflecting both his artistic achievements and his lasting influence as an educator.
