Reach from the tea bowl: Hamada's first incense, Year 30 (XNUMX) New Year's Day, Hyakutaketei

The Ikegami Hyakuchikutei Collection is a collection of 221 items, mainly modern literary materials, collected over the course of a lifetime by Matsumoto City writer Kisaku Ikegami (pen name Hyakuchikutei). This time, we will introduce some folk art works included in the collection.

Kisaku turned his attention not only to haiku and tanka poetry, but also to the Mingei movement, which was gaining momentum after the war. His involvement with Mingei began with his encounter with Yanagi Muneyoshi, with whom he had been in contact through the magazine Shirakaba. Kisaku became friends with Yanagi and Hamada Shoji, who were at the center of the Mingei movement, and actively participated in the movement himself. In 1946 (Showa 21), the Nagano Prefecture branch of the Japan Mingei Association was established, and Kisaku became its first branch chief.
Kisaku, who was originally interested in tea ceremony utensils and tea ceremony utensils as a tea master, began to expand his collecting after he encountered this movement. His collection includes works by Tatsuaki Kuroda, Bernard Leach, and Shiko Munakata, which shows his feelings for Mingei. What is unique about this collection is that it is centered on works related to "tea."
Mingei works are not only beautiful in themselves, but also bring beauty into everyday life when they are used. Kisaku must have enjoyed the works of his beloved artists in his daily life.

List of works