I just saw the list of pre-selected names for the 55th Koguei Art Exhibition, announced by Bunkyo. This time, my name is not among them.

There were 442 works submitted in the pre-selection stage, a number that shows the strength of ceramics today.

I wish the best to everyone who moves forward to the next stage. The delivery of the works will take place on July 17 and 18. The final selection will happen on July 19, and the results with the awarded works will be announced on July 28. The exhibition will be open to the public from October 5 to October 19, 2025.

Before shaping my first large piece, I had already made more than 200 small ones. Cups, small plates, ornaments. Pieces made slowly, one by one, learning along the way.

I keep them all with care. They are part of my beginning.

It was in the studio of my teacher, Magali Ercolin, that something changed.

One day she showed me a book that was there among the materials, almost as if it had been waiting to be found.

The book is called:

「手びねりでつくる食の器」
(Tableware made with hand-building techniques)

Inspired by the Japanese coil-building technique, this vase was built by hand, layer by layer.

The idea came up in the studio of my teacher, Magali Ercolin. One day she showed me a book written entirely in Japanese. I could not understand a single word, but I was captivated by the images.

The book showed ceramics from the Jōmon period, an ancestral Japanese style that goes back more than 10,000 years. The pieces had free, intertwined forms, almost alive.