However, the Great Tokyo earthquake of 1923 destroyed most of his ceramics collection, so Rosanjin began making pottery to replace it. In 1926, with the assistance of Toyozō Arakawa, he established a kiln in the Yamasaki neighborhood of Kamakura. Rosanjin began by imitating the classic forms of Japanese Mino, Shigaraki, Bizen and Kutani ceramics, and also for classic blue-and-white wares and colored porcelains of Ming period China. However, he often surpassed the classical forms, and became famous for his simple, but daring, original designs, at time incorporating elements of Japanese calligraphy, of which he was also an acknowledged master.