MURAKAMI Brothers
Arita. Kyushu.
“they have been working literally next to each other, combing their two specialities”
Located in Kyushu, the southwestern most of Japan’s main islands, Arita is the birthplace of Japanese porcelain. Arita ware boasts a 400-year history and was originally produced exclusively for Japan’s elite. During the second half of the 19th century, huge quantities of porcelain from Arita were exported to Europe where it became known as “white gold” among the aristocrats due to its clear white surface.
Today, Arita ware is one of the traditional handicrafts of Japan, expressing a versatile beauty that is uniquely Japanese.
The Arita region is still home to the nest porcelain masters.
Among the top producers are Master craftsmen Toshihiko and Kunihiko Murakami, who have been breathing life into porcelain artworks for 45 and 42 years respectively. In 2009, with the passing of their father, founder of the kiln “Genki Tobo”, the two brothers took over.
Since then, they have been working literally next to each other,
combining their two specialities: Toshihiko, the eldest, is renowned for his designs of “Kacho Fugetsu”, signifying owers, birds, breeze and moon; Kunihiko the youngest, is acclaimed for his extremely precise and detailed geometric patterns.
Yuichi supports the production of ten hand painted
porcelain creations from Japanese master artisans
Toshihiko and Kunihiko Murakami.
They explore and reinvent traditional patterns that
have been perfected over generations, as carefully
guarded techniques are passed down as precious
family secrets. The cup is carefully crafted
with consideration to all the senses involved
in the experience: touch: the feel in the hand and
on the lips; smell: aroma of coffee emitting from
the cup; taste: temperature of the liquid; vision:
the aesthetics of the cup, outside and inside.