A sake cup and small dish from Matsushita Hiroki’s popular “Fugen Series,” offered together as a set for drinking sake with a small snack, (or doubling as a sencha tea cup and saucer). Designed for an intimate evening drink, the pieces feature the clean, stylish forms characteristic of Matsushita’s work. I can easily imagine pairing them with chilled sake and a simple accompaniment—cheese, pickles, or another small bite. Despite their simplicity, his pieces carry a quiet strength and unwavering presence. The set comes housed in an original wooden box titled Fugen Guinomi to Mame Zara. The sake cup measures 7.5 × 4 cm (3 × 1 1/2 inches), and the small dish 10.8 × 1.7 cm (4 1/4 x 3/4 inches).
Matsushita Hiroki (1977–2024) was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture and encountered clay early in life, an engagement that deepened through formal study and culminated in a Doctorate in Fine Arts from Kyushu Sangyo University in 2009. His research on the Kakiemon style, conducted under the guidance of the Fourteenth-generation Sakaida Kakiemon and supported by the Ministry of Education’s 21st Century COE Program, placed him in direct dialogue with one of Japan’s most refined ceramic traditions. In 2017, he founded the studio-gallery Utsuwa Tsunagi (“vessels that bind”), reflecting his conviction that ceramics serve as quiet agents of human connection. Selected for the National Artists Exhibition at the Uenomori Art Museum in 2021, his career was marked by steady expansion and a sustained commitment to refinement. His works—often bearing metal-like surfaces tempered by warmth—embody a balance of rigor and grace, vessels shaped not only by discipline but by a gentle hand. Matsushita passed away in 2024. His loss is deeply felt, yet his spirit endures in the vessels he formed—objects that continue to accompany daily rituals with quiet gravity, inviting pause, touch, and connection.
