The Kinzan Kiln is celebrating its 120th anniversary. Through this exhibition, which offers a glimpse into the next frontier of craftsmanship, we invite you to experience the kiln’s history and its vision for the next century.

The year 1906: Natsume Sōseki published *Botchan* and *Kusamakura*; Ango Sakaguchi and Soichiro Honda were born; Shinjuku Gyoen was established; and, on the world stage, the Athens Olympics and the Milan World’s Fair were held. It was 120 years ago—a story that seems straight out of a textbook—but in Takado-cho, Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, there was a company specializing in the overglaze painting of Kutani ware, “Kinsan Kiln" was also founded in 1906, and this year marks its 120th anniversary.

The Nishikiyama Kiln has been characterized by gold-based decoration for generations, beginning with its founder, who excelled in the “Saisai Kinrande” style—the dominant artistic tradition of Kutani ware since the Meiji period. The current head of the family, Yukio (the fourth-generation master), builds upon these historic techniques while blending them with contemporary sensibilities, and he continues to hone his craft daily in pursuit of unprecedented forms of expression.

The exhibition titled “Tan ASHITA” – YOSHITA Yukio Exhibition — will take shape at the “AXIS Gallery” in Roppongi starting Friday, October 9. The exhibition will give form to the history of the Nishikiyama Kiln and its aspirations for the next century, while also tracing Yukio Yoshita’s artistic journey to date and his current position, marking a step forward toward the future.

This exhibition features representative works such as “Kachoumutan,” which reinterprets traditional kinrande and gold-leaf techniques for contemporary lifestyles, as well as new forms of expression utilizing “Tomonami,” a system developed in collaboration with Alexei Andre, a researcher at Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL).

Furthermore, we have gathered a diverse collection of works that present a new vision for craftsmanship—one that is free from conventional constraints—ranging from the live session held last October at the Kinuyama Kiln’s “Mutan” gallery to a cross-disciplinary collaboration with Enjo Yamazaki (musician/poet/tag artist)—a collaboration that transcends traditional boundaries—we have assembled a diverse collection of works that present a new vision for craftsmanship in the modern era, unbound by conventional notions.

“We preserve in order to keep changing, and we change in order to remain the same.”

The statement above was inspired by a response to the poem “To Remain the Same, I Must Change” by Enjo Yamazaki. The line “I preserve in order to keep changing” reflects the commitment to both preservation and innovation that the Nishikiyama Kiln has cultivated over the past 120 years.

Expressions made possible by technology and physical expression born of skilled craftsmanship. When the Nishikiyama Kiln serves as a bridge between these seemingly polar opposites, it offers a glimpse of the next frontier in the world of crafts.