Yamachika Yasushi was born in 1975 in Terai-machi, Nomi-gun (now Nomi City), Ishikawa Prefecture. Raised at Seizan Kiln, a Kutani ware kiln, he completed the Practitioners’ Course at the Ishikawa Prefectural Kutani Ceramic Technical Training Institute in 2000, and opened Taishi Kiln in 2011. Making full use of the five traditional Kutani colors (gosai: green, yellow, purple, Prussian blue, and red), he depicts animals such as elephants, rhinoceroses, sea turtles, and chameleons, as well as plants, with the luster and powerful colors unique to Japanese overglaze enamels. Rooted in the tradition of iro-e (overglaze enamel painting), he builds a fantastical and contemporary worldview. He has been repeatedly selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition and received the Grand Prize at the Traditional Kutani Ware Crafts Exhibition in 2012 and 2020. He is a full member of the Japan Kōgei Association.