Ezaki Guji is an Edo lacquerware craftsman, and was born in 1913 in Akita prefecture.

Ezaki's father was a Kawatsura lacquerware craftsman. After graduation, Ezaki studied the craft of lacquerware from his father. In 1931, at the age of 18, he moved to Tokyo to study under a lacquering craftsman in Asakusa.

Edo lacquerware developed as a craft during the period of the fifth Tokugawa shogun Tsunayoshi (1646–1709), and was being used by commoners as everyday objects by the period of the eighth shogun Yoshimune (1684-1751).

Many different kinds of Edo lacquerware vessels and utensils are produced, including objects for the tea ceremony and for low tables.

Ezaki set up his own business in Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, in 1946. Until 1950, he lacquered and assembled sacred portable shrines for Tokyo's Asakusa district. Now, he is mainly engaged in lacquering drums, lion-dance masks and portable shrines.

Ezaki says: 'The basic preparation in lacquering is vital. The surface might look similar at first, but the longer you use it, the more tasteful the best ware gets.'

In 1995, he was designated as a Tokyo Traditional Craftsman of Katsushika-ku.