Yo Akiyama

 was born in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan in 1953. He is an artist specializing in ceramics, and was a part of the "Sōdeisha" aesthetic movement.
Early life.
Akiyama studied under Yagi Kazuo at the Kyoto Municipal University of Arts and Music from 1972 to 1978. He started working with the creation of objects based in black pottery and showed an interest in the primitivism of modern sculptors such as Brancusi and Arp as well as his professor.
From 1978 until 1981 he worked as a teacher at Zeno, a home for disabled children. He became a member of the International Ceramic Academy in 1986 and in 1988 became a professor at Kyoto Municipal University of Arts and Music. He is currently chairman of the Department of Ceramics.