A Night Sky from Mino
For over thirteen centuries, Mino, in Gifu Prefecture, has been Japan’s leading center of ceramics, its kilns known for bold experimentation with glaze. That spirit lives on in this bowl: a deep cobalt kiln-change surface recalls a star-filled sea, gradually shifting to olive green at the rim. Created as part of the Uranus & Neptune series, it carries the quiet unpredictability for which Mino ware has long been known.
A Seam Through the Stars
Restored over four months, the bowl was entrusted to Keiko Hata, a lacquer artist with a Master’s degree in Lacquer Arts from Kyoto City University of Arts who has also taught traditional kintsugi workshops in Japan. Working with food-safe natural urushi, she carefully reunited the vessel before sprinkling genuine 24K gold powder along the restored seam and finishing it through roiro, the highest grade of urushi finishing. This brings out the gold, giving it a smooth, deep glow that only a carefully finished urushi surface can achieve. From near the foot, the seam opens into a broad V across the night-blue exterior, crosses the olive rim, and continues inside, gathering in a gentle loop beneath the star-like glaze.
One Comet, One Bowl
This bowl brings together two living Japanese traditions: Mino’s thirteen-century ceramic heritage and the enduring craft of authentic kintsugi in natural urushi. Its fracture now belongs to the landscape itself—a comet crossing a night sky, following a course no other bowl could repeat. To welcome it into your collection is to become the next custodian of both traditions, carrying their story forward.
