Born in Umehata, Miyano Village, Yoshiki-gun, Suo Province (Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture) in 1863, Terauchi moved to Tokyo in 1877 and entered the Industrial Arts School the following year, where he studied stone sculpture under the guidance of Italian professor Ragusa. After graduation, he worked at the Imperial Palace Construction Bureau, where he made a 1/50th scale model of the main building based on the drawings of an Englishman, Condor, but when the Western-style construction was cancelled, he resigned and became a potter at the invitation of Koji Koie of Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, and later became a teacher at the Tokoname Art Institute. In 1896 (29), he became an instructor at the Seto Pottery School and devoted himself to teaching pottery carving. 1898 (31), at the invitation of Natomi Sukejiro, he moved to Arita, Saga Prefecture, and became a hands-on instructor for potters. In 1911, he took a leave of absence and went to China to become a professor at Changsha Higher Technical School in Hunan Province, but returned to Japan temporarily due to the revolutionary upheaval. In 1928, he was promoted to the 6th grade of Shojo (the highest rank) and became the principal of Tobe High School in Ehime Prefecture. In the spring of 1930 (5th year of the same year), he built a kiln in his house, tried his hand at pottery carving, and spent the last years of his life living a life of self-sufficiency. He decided to use ceramics to create timeless sculptures because of the inferiority of Japanese marble compared to European marble, and this led him to devote himself to ceramic education. He died on May 11, 1945, at the age of 81.
