Ogawa Machiko was born in Sapporo on the Northern Island of Hokkaido in 1946.  She studied under future Living National Treasures Fujimoto Yoshimichi, Tamura Koichi and Kato Hajime at the Tokyo University of Arts, graduating in 1969, then went on to further studies in France and Africa, returning to Japan in 1975.   She began garnering attention in the mid eighties, and has since become one of the leading female figures in Japanese pottery.  She was awarded the JCS prize in 2001, one of Japans most prestigious awards.  Work by her is held in the Brooklyn Art Museum, LACMA, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smith College, MIA, MOMAT and a host of others.