Saimyō-ji, a Buddhist temple with several important cultural relics (as designated by the national and prefectural governments), is located in Mashiko.
After supervising the loading of what would become his last noborigama firing in late 2007, Shimaoka collapsed, and died several weeks later in late 2007 from acute liver failure at Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture.
Serizawa has also produced numerous masterpieces in illustrated books including Don Quixote, Vincent van Gogh and A Day at Mashiko.
Having spent three years in St Ives with Bernard Leach, he returned to Japan in 1923 and eventually established his workshop in Mashiko, about 100 km north-east of Tokyo.