Red Fujiyama sake cup by Yanashita Hideki

Width 7.2cm Height 5.6cm

Yanashita Hideki's "Red Fujiyama Sake Cup" is a sake cup that was created with a deep respect for the national treasure "Fujiyama" left by the great master Honami Koetsu of the early Edo period, and is a reinterpretation of the work, created while facing the modern era head-on. Koetsu's "Fujiyama" is considered a solitary presence in the history of Japanese pottery due to its shape and glaze scenery. Yanashita Hideki draws on the spirituality of the work, but by clashing the two strong colors of "red" and "black", he poses new questions and beauty to us who live in the modern age.

The tension in the design created by the discontinuity between red and black

The most distinctive feature of this sake cup is its bold color scheme, clearly divided into red and black. It is not just two-tone. The black symbolizes "night" and "earth" as symbols of silence, while the red symbolizes passion and the pulse of life, as if two opposing forces of nature were in conflict on the vessel. The boundary between the two colors is not a gradation, but rather is clearly separated like the cross-section of a geological layer. This creates spatial depth and spiritual tension within the small surface area of the vessel. Standing on this boundary, the user is enveloped in a mysterious sensation, as if they are standing between mountain and sky, fire and darkness, life and death.

The memory of life in "red"

The "red" in this vessel is not simply a choice of color, but a "breathing red" that evokes a sense of life. The slightly fluctuating red holds heat like lava, and is also the color of memories of earth and fire, like ancient vermilion and red clay. This red covers the top of the vessel, creating a composition that looks like an upside-down Fuji, forming a unique landscape that could be called Red Fuji. Just as Mount Fuji continues to reside in the hearts of Japanese people as a sacred mountain, the red of this vessel also has the strength to affect us deeply.

The sealed memories of firing

Yanagishita creates his pottery through a "dialogue with fire" that is the process of firing. In this piece as well, the minute fluctuations that appear at the boundary between red and black, and the slight changes in the glaze are the very memory of the firing process, where intention and chance intersect. The black parts in particular have a slightly rough texture and minute crazing, which creates a tactile and visual contrast with the glossiness of the red. This creates a rhythm throughout the piece, and it shows a different expression every time you pick it up, or when the angle of the light changes.

Landscapes and spirituality dwelling in small vessels

Although it is an extremely small sake cup, the Red Fujiyama Sake Cup contains within it a magnificent landscape and spiritual expanse. Its shape fits snugly in the palm of the hand, and maintains a natural sway and balance due to the hand-kneading process, giving it an organic and warm appearance. This "mountain in the hand" is not just a drinking vessel, but also a presence that speaks quietly to you. When you pour the sake, tilt the cup, and drink it all, the scenery that appears is a moment when you feel as if the red and black melt together, transcending the boundaries of inside and outside, consciousness and unconsciousness.

The untold beauty of white space and silence

In this sake cup, it is "the unspoken" that creates its greatest charm. For example, in the slight "plain band" between the red and black, and in the places where the boundaries of the colors blur, visual white space envelopes the vessel like silence. This is the "power of white space" that is connected to the essence of Japanese art, just like the wind dancing on Tawaraya Sotatsu's gold background, the silence that dwells in Korin's white space, and the lingering emotion of "the unpainted" in ink painting.

A sake vessel to savor the passage of time

The Red Fujiyama Sake Cup is a vessel that transforms the act of drinking sake from a mere pleasure to a time experience. Each time sake is poured, the red heats up and the black deepens - you can enjoy these changes while savoring the time with the vessel. This sensation is the very essence of the aesthetic sense of a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, which is also found in a single bowl of tea ceremony. The Red Fujiyama Sake Cup by Yanagishita Tokiki is a small but profound work of art that quietly speaks of the space between "being" and "not being" through the dialogue of the two colors, red and black. The more you look at it and use it, the more your own landscape will emerge in the palm of your hand - it is a vessel that lives with the user, a vessel that nurtures time and sensibility.

Hideki Yanashita Profile
Ceramicist 1967 –
Born in Tokyo, Yanagishita is currently based in Iga, Mie Prefecture. Fascinated by pottery from the Momoyama period, he embarked on the path of ceramics. After training in Shigaraki, he built his own anagama kiln in Iga, Mie Prefecture, and opened the Kanda Kiln. Under the tutelage of Sadamitsu Sugimoto, Yanagishita has been creating a wide variety of works , including Raku ware, Yakishime, Ido, and Oribe, while deeply exploring the world of wabi-sabi from his own unique perspective. An important theme in Yanagishita's creations is the quest for new heights , born from the incorporation of modern materials and unique approaches while deeply studying the techniques and spirit of his predecessors. His works question essential beauty that is timeless, and invite the viewer into a deeper world of art.

Base of operations : Iga, Mie Prefecture