20 Japanese Glass Artists You Really Should Know

by Jes Kalled | ART

We’re so familiar with glass in everyday items that we may not realize the limitless potential it offers for art. These Japanese artists however have found some truly enlightening ways to harness its expressive power.

As windows replaced paper shoji screens in the 19th century, glass made its glittering entrance onto the Japanese art scene. Today glass artists make use of this most versatile substance to reinterpret tradition, and shatter preconceptions.

Here we take a look through the glass art of ten of Japan’s most fascinating creators.

1. Takeshi Sano

Every piece is unique, or so it seems to Takeshi Sano, a Funabashi-born glass artist in Japan. In contrast with his peers, Sano uses a burning technique to fuse glass into his pieces. Additionally Sano applies a glass blowing practice to each individual work; the combination likely of a western and eastern influence. The effect allows for a vacant patch of color to appear and take up space. Sano expresses that the joy of glass making comes from the transformation and the process, how the piece grows and unfolds as he works. The artist and his wife, Yoko, have opened a glass studio called SANOSANO in Toyama to continue their practice.

2. Akane Yamamoto

© Akane Yamamoto at Tomo Museum, Butterflies Sculpture — © Akane Yamamoto at Tomo Museum, *Butterflies* Sculpture

If you haven’t heard of the Japanese classic Tale of Genji, here’s a novel way to get acquainted with it!

Artist Akane Yamamoto brings the tales to life with her folk-craft-inspired glass sculptures.

‘Butterflies’ refers to a chapter where the eponymous hero organizes a spectacular garden party for the visiting empress. You can see the references in the intricate floral patterns that decorate this butterfly’s wing.

This glass art is on display at the Tomo Museum in Tokyo.

3. Hiroshi Yamano

Hiroshi Yamano is known for being one of the prominent artists that shifted glass vessels from functional to sculptural. His work recreates scenes from Japan, not dissimilar from Japanese screen paintings, and often includes birds, fish and other fluid parts of nature. Yamano’s techniques pull from Japanese, European, and American influences to form a kind of fusion of his own design. Part of what makes him stand out is his use of an old Japanese metal crafting technique to fuse gold and silver leaves onto glass. He then etches images onto the surface and plates with copper.

4. Yukito Nishinaka

Yukito Nishinaka's glass art uses the material in unfamiliar ways; but looking at his work you wonder why we don’t always use glass!

The inspiring teabowl shows that glass artworks can achieve the same level of beautiful and idiosyncratic artistry as the more traditional ceramics.

© Yukito Nishinaka, Glass Stepping Stones

Nishinaka also lends his creativity to other facets of traditional Japanese design. Stepping stones are an important component of the Japanese garden, as they enable the viewer to move through the views of the space without being sullied by rain or soil. What better way to represent this visual movement and purity than with glass?

See more of Nishinaka’s glass art at nishinaka.com!

5. Ritsue Mishima

Venetian glass artist Ritsue Mishima applies older glass blowing techniques to create her transparent glass structures. Mishima encounters inspiration in nature and the ways of the universe. Embodied in her pieces are the smaller details of the “scales of a fish,” or “meteorites” in the sky. Most notably Mishima became enamored with glass making on the island of Murano in Italy, where she moved in 1989. In the classic Murano tradition of glass making, the appearance is see-through and without color. Mishima’s adaptation adds a layer of abstraction and improvised techniques, as she never begins a project knowing what the outcome will be.

6. Niyoko Ikuta

© Niyoko Ikuta at yufuku.net, Glass Sculpture

Glass artist Niyoko Ikuta makes use of just two materials to create these futuristic sculptures: both the brilliant glass, and the light that is refracted through it.

By layering gently undulating sheets of glass, not only does Ikuta create these incredible wave-like structures, but she is also able to explore the reflected light that subtly animates each part of the sculpture.

See more of Ikuta’s fascinating works at yufuku.net.

7. Masahiro Sasaki

Drawn to the materials and sensibility of glassblowing, Masahiro Sasaki is both an artist and a professor at Aichi University. “The hot glass moves softly and shows a sensual expression.” He said in an interview for the Glass Art Society. He describes his interest in having to control aspects such as “heat, gravity, and centrifugal force.” This style and appreciation of process is referred to as kogei, or craft. True to Japan’s tendency to put material before concept, Sasaki says he too thinks about kogei and uses this as a place to work from.

8. Mika Aoki

© Mika Aoki, Her Songs Are Floating Installation — © Mika Aoki, *Her Songs Are Floating Installation*

Bathed in a soft blue light, this glass sculpture reveals the beauty in decay.

Royal College of Art graduate Mika Aoki combines a fascination with the physical and the organic to produce her thought-provoking installations. Carefully crafted glass structures seem to grow in mysterious fungal forms through this abandoned and rusted car.

By using industrial materials, Aoki is able to highlight the supremacy of nature, and to inspire reflection on what will be after we are gone.

Learn more about this artist at mikaaoki.jp.

9. Etsuko Ichikawa

Etsuko Ichikawa believes that “art making is like creating visual poetry.” As a multidisciplinary artist, Ichikawa works with various mediums but always includes elements of fire and water. Born and raised in Tokyo, the glass artist has since moved to Seattle, where she has lived for 25 years. Her work is a reflection of her Japanese roots, socially engaged activism, and the American lens from where she looks from now. Ichikawa’s project VITRIFIED is a response to the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The green glass orbs (made with components of uranium), and her subsequent film interacting with them was inspired by vitrification technology, a process that transforms radioactive waste into glass.

10. Kyohei Fujita

This beautifully ornamented box seems like a fine example of lacquer craftsmanship, but look again!

It is fine craftsmanship indeed, although the material is not lacquer, but glass! Artist Kyohei Fujita spent 60 years attained an unrivalled perfection in glass blowing for which he was awarded the medal of cultural merit.

This treasure is decorated with gold and silver leaf to portray the plum blossoms of early spring.

11. Nao Yamamoto

Contrary to the material based approach widely encouraged in Japan, Nao Yamamoto continuously seeks to find the concept and idea in each piece. “During the glassblowing process, I sometimes saw the molten glass as a creature that has a consciousness and tries to challenge my skill or mastery.” Yamamoto describes a desire to get closer to the “experience” and “relationship” of glass blowing. Her art is a way for her to “have a conversation with herself,” she says. In an effort to explore and exemplify the omnipresence of nature and its force in our lives, Yamamoto expresses the ways nature moves and breathes.

12. Etsuko Tashima

© Etsuko Tashima at Imura Art, Cornucopia II, Glass and Ceramic Sculpture

The skill of Etsuko Tashima’s thought-provoking sculptures is that they combine ceramics and glass into a forms that don’t appear to be either material.

In this piece, Cornucopia II, the effect is that we see petals of different stages of growth in a blooming flower.

Tashima is also one of our top picks for Japan’s best female ceramicists. Check out imuraart.com for more of her work!

13. Satoshi Tomizu

What if the entire solar system was captured inside a small glass ball, then worn around your neck as a pendant? This is Satoshi Tomizu’s work. First inspired by Men in Black, Tomizu has since not shied away from his admiration of the play from macro to micro. Often referring to his own work as “space glass,” the artist also incorporates aspects of nature into the glass spheres. Tomizu’s motivation comes from an appreciation of the infinite and the mysterious. “A universe spreading out in the palm of your hand,” he says.

14. Kazuko Mitsushima

© Kazuko Mitsushima at Gallery Deux Poissons, Glass Ring

Designer Kazuko Mitsushima’s contemporary glass jewelry creates forms and colors that no precious metal can reproduce.

When Mitsushima began working with glass it was considered a poor imitation of jewels. But she refused to be restricted, and persevered through years of careful experimentation to create these unique pieces that in many ways surpass the limitations of stone.

This particular ring pairs a lacquer-black glass ring with a lagoon blue opal. Mitsushima uses the natural irregularity of the material to craft this elegant and intriguing piece.

Mitsushima’s work is available at the Gallery Deux Poissons in Tokyo.

15. Kazutoshi Ohba

Ohba Edo Kiriko Cut Glass, Available at Amazon

Edo Kiriko or cut glass is a traditional Japanese craft that began in the early 1830’s. Following his family’s footsteps, second generation crafter Kazutoshi Ohba has continued the tradition of Edo Kiriko. His company, Ohba Glass founded by his father Toshio, specializes in creating handmade glasses with detailed engravings that sparkle, some even giving off a kaleidoscopic effect. Blending old with functional, successor Kazutoshi, plays with the traditional practice of geometric patterns in order to provide glasses one can drink from and enjoy. Some glasses represent the four distinct seasons in Japan, others are inspired by fireworks, or the Milky Way.

16. Hidenori Tsumori

© Hidenori Tsumori at yufuku.net, Remains of the Day, Glass Sculpture — © Hidenori Tsumori at yufuku.net, *Remains of the Day*, Glass Sculpture

There is a sense of the archeological artifact within Hidenori Tsumori’s glass art. By combining glass and clay in Tsumori produces works such as this sculpture Remains of the Day, which provokes the viewer into reflection on things that are lost, and things that remain.

Explore Tsumori’s world at yufuku.net.

17. Mieko Noguchi

Mieko Noguchi thinks deeply when it comes to her craft. When creating a glass artwork she relates the heat and cooling process to the Big Bang, an event that afforded much creation and yet is still surrounded by much mystery. Through her work, Noguchi is dedicated to reminding people that we live in an extraordinary world. “When people are tamed by society by the law of common sense, the world will look as though it has lost its mystery. However, an artist that looks into the world as though nothing is ordinary, we will be able to know and see that world again.” Noguchi’s skill allows for a variety of glasswork. One can rediscover the magic of Hokusai in her glass spheres, or get lost in space in her piece Gaia Plate.

18. Midori Tsukada

Midori Tsukada sees in glass an opportunity to express herself through natural processes. By blending the glass with other materials, such as metals, and allowing the forces of heat and gravity to play upon her creations, she is able to create these incredibly expressive and otherworldly glass works.

Enjoy more of Tsukada’s work on her website.

19. Yoshiko Nitta

Etchings that scratch the transparent surfaces of Yoshiko Nitta’s work remind us of its delicate nature. The complex patterns on the detailed exterior show the amount of precision and care taken when making each blown piece. Nitta quickly became enamoured with the craft of glass making after attending a glass art show in Osaka when she was in high school. Not long after, she became the mentee of Iezumi Toshio at Kurashiki University. In an interview with Entoten, she describes her desire to create “utilitarian wares.” “I want my work to be used daily, so I pay special attention to the thickness, weight, and size of my work.” Functional, yes, but not without ornate aesthetics made with intention.

20. Ikuko Ogawa

© Ikuko Ogawa at Panorama, Cut Glass Vase

Ikuko Ogawa is a master of Edo Kiriko, which is a style of glass cutting developed in the 19th century Japan. Although Ogawa’s creations are informed by history, the sweeping, multi-layered designs are very much a product of her own aesthetic.

This art glass vase, the Rhythm of Snow, portrays the musical movement of snowflakes as they dance and tumble through the dusky evening sky.

Which is your favorite artist? Let us know in the comments below!

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