Utilizing a space open to the city to connect people who make and use pottery
The second store in Japan was opened in a corner of Nishiike Valley, a complex area in Ikebukuro, to provide a space where people could more easily access the pottery of artists who had been introduced at the gallery FUURO in Mejiro. The art gallery started by his grandmother and mother eventually evolved into a place to showcase art and crafts, and with third-generation owner Soichiro Hayakawa now joining the management, the store is showing new developments.
"We supply tableware to restaurants and bars and organize events together, and have started new businesses such as a service to introduce artists overseas. However, what we are most focused on is running the gallery. My mother, Hayakawa Manami and I have been looking at and using the same things for a long time, so our taste in tableware is very similar. Even when we approach new artists, we never clash," says Soichiro.
Nakai Namihana, a potter in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, has a "till" tea bowl called "Hail" for 55,000 yen. The name of this tea bowl means glacial deposits. A tranquil landscape emerges from the hand-formed bowl. 
There is a permanent shelf displaying glass by Kenichi Sasagawa, ceramics by Akihiro Nikaido, butter knives by Kazuto Yoshikawa, and more.
There is also a strong desire to "put the spotlight on young people who are innovating tradition," and Nakai Namika, born in 1993, is at the forefront of this movement. Her unique technique of mixing clay and glaze to create layers was cultivated through the creation of objects as art pieces. Enthralled not only by the beauty of the form but also by the interpretation of materials and the philosophy behind pottery making, the artist held her first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 2019.
