Takeichi Kawai was born in 1908 in Yasuki City, Matsue Prefecture, Japan. In 1927 he went to Kyoto, where he became a student of his uncle Kanjiro Kawai (1890-1966) one of Japan's most famous folk art potters. Kawai travelled to China in 1942, and has spent some time with the potters of Onda, on Kyushu Island, where Korean techniques are followed. In 1954 Kawai established an independent workshop where he has many students including foreigners.

 

In 1964 Kawai visited Australia with the English potter John Chappell (1931-64) who had worked in Japan since 1959. He worked at the Sturt Pottery Workshops, at Mittagong, N.S.W., in January and February 1964. His work has influenced Les Blakebrough, who was in charge of the Pottery Workshops at the time and who had worked with him in Japan in 1963.