Insight Kogei Articles

HULS Gallery Tokyo is proud to present our new arrivals, showcasing refreshing tea wares recommended for the summer season.From Tokoname in Aichi Prefecture, we introduce tea wares with light colors of white and silver hues that embody a different flavor in comparison to the red clay, which is more commonly associated with traditional Tokoname ware. Cups and spouted bowls made by Hiroshi Taruta, a...

Shuji Hataishi represents the fifth generation of the Imari Nabeshima ware company, Hataman Touen, and an active artist. As the eldest of three siblings, he was born and raised in Imari Okawachiyama in Saga Prefecture. He studied at the University of Art and Design in Tokyo (Tokyo Zokei University), majoring in sculpture. He loved to work with a pitch black stone called kuro-mikage (black granite)...

HULS Gallery Tokyo will hold an exhibition of two major brands “KISENDO” and “KISEN” of Yotsukawa Seisakusho Ltd. who are among the top copperware producers  in Takaoka city, Toyama prefecture.  Takaoka has over 400 years of tradition in making Buddha statues, buddhist altar items, incense burners, etc. In recent years, dynamic manufacturers in Takaoka using their well honed traditional techniques...

HULS Gallery Tokyo will hold an exhibition titled “Celebratory Tableware” of Tokko Kiln from Arita, Saga Prefecture from January 6 (Mon) to January 25 (Sat). Founded in 1865, Tokko Kiln produces tableware with elegant and beautiful motifs for fine Japanese-style cuisine using special transferring techniques. In this exhibition, we will display many products decorated with auspicious motifs for the...

HULS Gallery Tokyo will hold a solo exhibition of Eiko Tanaka, a woodturning artist from Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture. This will be her first exhibition in about 2 years and the gallery will introduce her original works such as tableware for daily use as gifts and new art pieces. Please visit the gallery and do not miss this opportunity to see her unique works which show the superb luster of lac...

Mix the paint and apply it on the woodblock. Place the Japanese washi (paper) carefully on the block and use the baren (a flat pad) to rub the washi. After these processes and with bated breath, Mr. Noriyasu Soda quickly pulls the washi off from the wood block, on which a beautiful color with deep perspectives appears. “Although it is just transferring colors onto paper, depending on the artisan’s...

From 2nd (Mon) to 21st (Sat) September, HULS Gallery Tokyo will hold an exhibition of works by Shinji Terauchi, the head of Riso Porcelain which is a manufacturer of Arita ware.Pursuing the creation of tableware that makes food beautiful, Mr. Terauchi has achieved a number of collaborations with top international chefs. In this exhibition, we showcase and sell various tableware which feature his t...

Mr. Koji Orii is the founder of “Momentum Factory Orii, Co.,Ltd.”, which deals with a wide range of coloring of Takaoka copperware. Born and raised in Takoka City in Toyama Prefecture, he is the third generation of a long-established “Orii-chakushokujyo (coloring factory). After graduating from university, he worked hard and had a fulfilling career in an IT company in Tokyo. Howe...

HULS Gallery Singapore will hold the first ever solo exhibition of Ryosuke Ando in Singapore from 31/May, 2019. A ceramic artist from Aichi Prefecture, he had studied ceramics in Seto, which has a strong tradition in ceramic making and is the location of one of the six ancient kilns in Japan. For this edition, his original works which take the form of cups, sake servers and tea ware that is create...

To celebrate the renewal of KOGEI STANDARD, I had an interview with Ms. Noriko Tsuiki, a textile artist of Kokura-ori.I met with Ms. Tsuiki in 2015. It started from the encounter with the textile brand “KOKURA SHIMA SHIMA”, which Ms. Tsuiki herself is the creative director. I first encountered the beautiful vertical stripe fabric in “Interior Lifestyle”, an international trade fa...

Q1：What kind of encounter did you have with Kokura-ori?I did not graduate from an art university and my family business was not related to Kogei, so, my approach was rather different. I like literature since my childhood and when I was a university student, I was attracted by early modern Japanese theater styles and started to learn about Zeami (Noh actor). Subsequently, I started studying weaving...

Mr. Seiji Ito, a teapot artisan in Tokoname, entered the world of pottery at the age of 20 and initially was engaged mainly in making teacups. When the growth momentum of the high economic growth period began to slow down, he steered towards the production and sales of teapots which has a higher added value and more difficult to create compared with teacups. “A teapot in the world of tea is like t...