2011, March 11th 2:46pm.

The huge earthquake struck east Japan while I was taking 4 guests around the Kasamori Kannon- Goddess Temple, close to my studio in Chiba.Tremor was magnitude 8.9.

As the train services were suspended around Tokyo and Chiba, I asked them to stay at my place that night. The next 12th morning, after confirming the starting of the traffic service, I took my guests to Chiba station by my car, praying for their safe trip to home.

Picture of damages from the earthquake and Tsunami were repeatedly broadcasted on TV. It was really a disaster. To make the matters worse, Fukushima nuclear plants were hit by Tsunami, and the serious condition was gradually revealed.

As I could not calm myself to clay work, started thinking and asking “What can I do as a potter in this situation?”

Finally, two things came up to my mind.
A charity sale of my works! One was the sale of the chamfer vases which I already had. The other was to make the chopstick rest, hashi-oki, newly for the charity.
And donate all the profits to the victims and the reconstruction of the disaster areas.

I have been planning the tour of solo exhibitions 3, 4 times a year at the gallery of department stores. So, maybe I will be able to ask them to prepare the space for charity. I set the target figure to 1000. If I prepared 50 for one exhibition, I would achieve the number in about 7 years. Long-term support will be necessary for the recovery from the earthquake disaster.

So, I took the action to my charity project.

I carved the date “20110311”, on the reverse side of hashi-oki.
I used various types of clays and ash-glazes to make them. Shapes were all different, slender one, plump one…. They will make a circle, just like the people from all over the world, different skin colors, thoughts and religions, get together and pray to confront this catastrophe.

This is the image of my project.

I am dreaming of making a spiritual circle, together with the people supporting and appreciating this project. And in the future, the bigger circle will be made with 1000 hashi-okis, with the prayer of 1000 people.

When I told about this project to the gallery staff of Matsuya department store, they willingly cooperated and prepared the charity space.

This is the kickoff of “Hashi-oki 1000 project “.

June 2011, the first solo exhibition after the earthquake was started at Matsuya store in Tokyo, Ginza. 100 hashi-okis which I made for charity were sold out in 2 and a half days. It was a happy response!
I’d like to express my hearty gratitude to everyone who supports this charity project.
And also to Matsuya store for their kind cooperation.

I will keep working, dreaming of the bigger circle of 1000.
I would be so happy if you support this project, and pray for the recovery from the disaster together.

All the charity goes to Japanese Red Cross.

Progress report of this project is as follows.（June 3, 2015）



　　　　　Session　　　　　　　　　　　Site　　　　　Unit sales　　　Donation
① June 8 - 14 2011　　　　　　　 　Tokyo　　　　 　　100　　　　　¥104,000
② October 26 - November 1 2011 　Nagoya　 　 　 　 100　　　　　¥100,000
③ December 7- 13 2011　　　　　　Kanazawa　 　 　 50　　 　 　 ¥51,000
④ January 12 - 18 2012　　　　　　 Hiroshima　　 50　 　　 　 ¥50,000
⑤ October 17 -23 2012　　　　　　 Tokyo　　　　 　 100　　　　　¥101,000
⑥ November 21 - 27 2012　　　　　Okayama　　　 　 50 　 　 　 　 ¥50,000
⑦December 8 - 16 2012　　　　　　Kumamoto　　　 40　　　 　 　 ¥40,000
⑧January 24 -30 2013　　　　　　　Hiroshima　　　　 50　 　 　 　 ¥50,000
⑨0ctober 30 - November 5 2013 　 Nagoya 　　　　　 70 　　　　　¥70,000
⑩November 21 - 26 2013 　　　　　Kanazawa　　　 18 　　　　　¥18,000
⑪May 21 - 27 2014 　　　　　 　 　 Toyama　　　 　　 40 　　 　 　¥40,000
⑫September 17 - 23 2014　　　　　Tokyo　　　　　　 100　　　　　¥101,000
⑬October 21 - 27　2014　 　　　　 Fukuoka　　　　 　20　　　　　¥20,000
⑭November 26 - December 2 2014 Okayama　　　 　 29 　 　 　 　 ¥30,500
⑮April 15 -21 2015　　　　　　　　 Toyama　　　 　 45 　 　 ¥45,000
⑯May 21 - 27 2015　　　　　　　　 Hiroshima　　　 　 26　 　 ¥26,000
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
　　　　　Subtotal　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　 　 　888　　　　　 ¥896,500





①Tokyo2011　　　　 ②Nagoya2011　　　　③Kanazawa2011　　④Hiroshima2012

⑤Tokyo2012　　　　 ⑥Okayama2012　　　⑦Kumamoto2012　　⑧Hiroshima2013

⑨Nagoya2013　　　⑩Kanazawa2013　　 ⑪Tokyo2014　　　　⑫Toyama2014

⑬Fukuoka2014　　　⑭Okayama2014　　 ⑮Toyama2015　　　⑯Hiroshima2015







I’d like to express my hearty gratitude to everyone who supports this
charity project.
And also to each department store and Shimada Museum for their kind cooperation.