Carving the Universe in Silence - Hon'ami Koetsu and the Spirit of WABISUKE

Carving the Universe in Silence – Honami Koetsu and the Spirit of WABISUKE

It is said that in the mornings, Takagamine was shrouded in a mist that looked like flowing ink.
In that silence, Honami Koetsu picked up his brush, applied lacquer, and kneaded the clay.
The "Koetsu Village" he built is not just a community for artists.
It was a universe where thought and beauty intersected.

In the early Edo period, Koetsu received the land of Takagamine from Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Potters, lacquer artists, and paper craftsmen were invited to the venue.
He created an ideal world where art and life are one.
A place to live in harmony with nature and return to the roots of creativity.
It was a tranquil experimental site, far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Although Koetsu was born into the Honami family, whose family business was appraising swords,
He went beyond that framework and threw himself into calligraphy, pottery, lacquerware, and the tea ceremony.
His calligraphy is known as the "Three Great Calligraphers of the Kan'ei Era."
His lacquer art, known as "Koetsu Maki-e," had a great influence on later generations.
In ceramics, he created a unique beauty known as "Koetsu tea bowls" together with the Raku family.
What they all had in common was a belief in "beauty that breaks the mold."

In Koetsu's works, rather than perfected technique,
It contains the inner fluctuation of the spirit and a resonance with nature.
For example, his tea bowl "Fujiyama" is a Shiraku piece of ware that is said to be modeled after Mount Fuji.
There are imperfect fluctuations on the surface.
It is a quiet affirmation that embraces the laws of nature.
"Beauty is not being too perfect"
This philosophy continues to raise fresh questions even today.

WABISUKE's goal is also to look at the space hidden within the form.
Celebrating the depth of tradition while reconstructing it with a modern sensibility.
Just like the art village that Koetsu built in Takagamine, we too,
I want to weave together a place where beauty and philosophy resonate with words and colors.

In WABISUKE's products, writing, and space creation,
We value the "beauty that lies in imperfection."
Rather than striving for perfection,
It is precisely in the "fluctuations" and "gaps" that exist there that
I believe there is room for people to be touched.

What Koetsu left behind was not technique but his "attitude."
To put ideas into a single work.
Feel the universe in a single stroke of the pen.
That spirit lives on in our hands even today, more than 400 years later.

WABISUKE, like Koetsu,
We want to be a brand that speaks in silence.
Innovation doesn't come from shouting, it comes from resonating in silence.

All of the products, words, and spaces we handle are
Gently touch someone's heart,
I hope to bring a little space into your daily life.
This may be related to the "harmony between beauty and life" that Koetsu aimed for.

Carving the universe in silence.
This business continues to this day.
From a small modern-day village called WABISUKE.