Glass hashioki by Kyoichiro Kawakami

These hashioki are about 2.5" long x 1.6" wide x .6" high. They are pressed glass created by Kyoichiro Kawakami, a well known Japanese designer and glass artist. They are not signed but came in a box with a handwritten, stamped and signed label and a biographical history of the artist.

The name of the artist was not mentioned anywhere in the auction. I deduced who it was by deciphering the label on the box and the artist's biography on the small sheet of paper in the box. I bought it from a seller in Japan, and assume they knew who the artist was, so it was an oversight on their part. They accepted my offer of about 25% off of the original price. Still not cheap, but a good deal considering that this artist is so well known.

A bit about Kyoichiro Kawakami:

"Kyoichiro Kawakami was born in Chiba, a grandson of the founder of Kawakami Glass, which was founded in 1928.

Kyoichiro's interest in art glass was inspired by his grandfather, Denjiro Kawakami, who learned to make glass from his father, Kenkichi Koide, great grandfather of Kyoichiro. Kenkichi Koide learned to make glass at Shagawa Glassworks, which was established by the Meiji government as part of its initiative to industrialize Japan.

Kyoichiro graduated from the Design Program, Arts-Crafts Course at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1956. After graduating, he was employed in advertising design by Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic) and later worked as a glassware designer at Hoya Glass, where he worked until 1986. Since then, he has held many exhibitions, including a solo exhibition in Wako, and has won many glass art awards.

In his thirties, he studied abroad in Sweden as an overseas design researcher. In 1974 he was one of the founders of the Japan Glass Art Crafts Association."

I have not been able to discover if he is still living (age 90!).

Japanese hashioki are typically sold in sets of five or ten, though I have one set of twelve and a couple of sets of six but those are not boxed. I contacted several Japanese cultural centers and the best response I received was that the Japanese have historically produced items in sets of five or ten, though the reason for that is not known I was told. Most just did not know and did not hazard a guess. I found a lot of conflicting information, odd numbers vs even numbers being lucky or unlucky, the influence of Buddhism on Japanese culture, the recurrence of the number five in nature, the unlucky aspects of the number four, and on and on. rhineisfine had the best answer for sets of five hashioki and other dinnerware with the tradition that the sound of the number "four" in Japanese is close to the sound of the word for "death" and supported that with some literary examples of disposing of sets of five things when one was broken, so that makes the most sense to me for material objects. There is a whole phobia about the use of the number four in Japanese culture, but why not make sets in numbers of...... I give up!

https://www.tofugu.com/japan/number-four-superstition/

Here is a pretty good link to some information on the origins and use of hashioki and some great examples from a collector:

https://hashioki.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/hashioki-origin-timeline/

Calling these "Japanese Art Glass" because I think they are.

Data on sheet in the box:
"river
Biography of Kyoichiro Kami
1933 Born in Ichikawa, Chiba
1956 Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts
1965 Studied abroad in Sweden and Finland
1979 Corning Glass Museum, USA Selected for "New Glass A World Survey Exhibition"
(Purchased works)
Invited to submit to the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo "Beauty of Contemporary Glass:
Europe and Japan"
in 1980
1982 Crafts Gallery, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo "Su Kogei Exhibition" Invited submission (Purchased
work) "Japanese Glass 300 Years Edo to Contemporary Exhibition"
1986 Suntory Museum of Art Hospitality products
1987 Shinjuku Odakyu Department Store "'87 Japanese Glass Exhibition"
1990 Hakone Open-Air Museum Awarded at '90 Modern Glass Art Exhibition'
"Tokyo Glass Art Exhibition '90" Awarded year 1991
Submitted to Notojima Glass Art Now nomination competition Wako Hall "Kyoichiro Kawakami's World's Best Glass Exhibition"
1996 Center national d'art et de cultur Georges
1950-1995 'JAPANESE DESIGN Pompidou Suntory Museum "Tempozan" "Made in Japan 1950-1994" Selected to exhibit "Arare Pattern Plate" Design 1965 at the above exhibition
4-3-13 Hibarigaoka Kita, Hoya City, Tokyo 202"

Label on lid, could only get a partial translation:
"river
real
soil"