Akio Takamori (b. 1950) is a ceramic artist and educator in Seattle, Washington. He grew up in Japan, apprenticing to a master folk potter at Koishiwara, Kyushu after having graduated from the University of Tokyo.
While studying industrial ceramics in a factory setting, he attended an exhibition of contemporary ceramic art from Latin America, Canada, and the U.S. Attracted by what he describes as the "antiauthoritarian" quality of the work, Takamori determined (with the encouragement of the potter, Ken Ferguson) to emigrate to the U.S. and attend the Kansas City Art Institute. In 1974 he did just this, receiving his B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute and his M.F.A. from Alfred University in New York State. He was a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana.
