Hello everyone, how are you doing?
The year is almost over, and we will soon be welcoming the New Year.
We were able to finish our operations for this year yesterday without a hitch.
We look forward to fostering wonderful new connections next year, and we kindly ask for your continued patronage.
Now, to celebrate the New Year, starting today at 8:00 PM, we will be holding a special New Year's event featuring brand new sake vessels just pulled from the kiln by Takashi Soga.
"Takashi Soga New Sake Vessel Exhibition: Ichiyo-Ichie" (Click to visit the product page)
Mr. Soga deeply reveres old Bizen ware and devotes himself daily to mastering its essence.
How can one reach the beauty of old Bizen?
Mr. Soga decided to start by obtaining the finest clay.
As you know, clay is not something that is born in a day.
Even over a human lifespan of 100 years, that time is not even enough to call Bizen clay a newborn infant.
How should we utilize this limited clay that has been deposited over tens of thousands of years?
His answer was to almost completely recreate the production conditions of the era when old Bizen was originally fired.
A kiln built entirely of clay changes like a living thing with every firing.
The clay-only kiln is a massive piece of pottery in itself, and it transforms with each firing.
As a result, each firing yields significantly different works, making every encounter truly a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience.
In this kiln firing, we have pieces with a more refined astringency due to the eruption of iron, as well as newly attempted burnt sesame (koge-goma) sake cups.
We are also exhibiting pieces with the "sea-recovered" style of kiln transformation he has been working on for some time, along with works that possess a texture so exquisite they could be mistaken for authentic old Bizen.
We hope you will take a look at the "Takashi Soga New Sake Vessel Exhibition: Ichiyo-Ichie."
A look at Takashi Soga on the potter's wheel