Kinkouzan was the son of the sixth Sobei and inherited the family headship in 1884. He worked to expand the market for overseas exports that his father had promoted, added improvements to the Kyo-Satsuma techniques that his father had created, and was also successful in gold and silver glazing.
He exhibited his Kyo-Satsuma ware at the World’s Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893 and his art nouveau-style works at the fifth National Industrial Fair in 1903.