Volcanic ash hashioki by Kuniaki Kuroki

These hashioki are fairly beefy, about 2" long x 1.5" high x 1.25" wide. I have three boxed pairs, one of which contains documentation. They are new, unused. Not sure how to date these, but probably made after 1991 when this volcano recently erupted, though it seems to have erupted about seven times since 1991.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinmoedake

Translations:

Yelllow paper:
"About glass using Shinmoedake volcanic ash

This glass product was created with the desire to effectively utilize the volcanic ash that fell from the eruption of Mt. Shinmoedake in the Kirishima Mountain Range. By collecting as fine volcanic ash as possible, which easily mixes with the raw materials for glass, and mixing it with the raw materials for transparent glass without refining it, and melting it at approximately 1400 degrees, we are able to develop the pure color of the component (iron) that is abundant in volcanic ash. The result is a deep green glass.

*Because unrefined volcanic ash is used, fine bubbles may form in the glass body.* Since it is not heat-resistant tempered glass, please be careful about sudden heating, cooling, and impact.

Glass Art Miyazaki Aya Studio
1800-19 Minamata, Aya-machi, Higashimaroken-gun, Miyazaki Prefecture, 880-1303"

White paper:
"Thank you for purchasing a product from our factory. The products of our workshop are hand-made one by one by incorporating various decorations into the air-blown method and designing the overall beauty of texture, warmth, color, etc. We hope that you will continue to use it for many years to come. *Since it is not heat-resistant tempered glass, please be careful not to expose it to sudden heat, sudden cooling, or shock.

Glass Art Miyazaki Aya Studio
1800-19 Minamata, Aya-machi, Higashimaroken-gun, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-1303"

Box lid:
"glass art miyazaki
Kuroki Kuni Akiaya Kobo"

This artist is very well known and respected, but claims that he is the "founder of modern Japanese glass art" are a bit of a stretch and ignore Toshichi Iwata and his family, Kyohei Fujita and probably many other artists who preceded him. It is fair to say, however, that he has had a great influence on modern Japanese art glass. I believe that he was declared "a living national treasure" but will have to see if I can re-find the source for that.

https://capesaro.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/archivio-mostre-en/kuniaki-kuroki-the-rimpa-and-hiroshige-expression-of-japanese-aesthetics-through-glass/2011/07/1395/kuniaki-kuroki/

"1945 – Kuniaki Kuroki is born in Suki, in the province of Miyazaki. His talent as a painter is clear from his student days at the local high school.

1963 – Aged eighteen, he goes to work for the Yamaya Glass Company (Tokyo), which is famed for its household furnishings and glassware. Glass fascinates the young man, who then dedicates long years to studying all the various techniques of the craft (blown glass, moulded glass, fused glass, sand finishing, etc).

1972 – He begins to exhibit his works in glass, his Dream immediately winning a special award at the Funabashi City Art Exhibition.

1977 – Winner of various awards, including the highest level of the Japanese Glassmakers Proficiency Test organised by the Ministry of Work; holds his first one-man show at the Yamagata department store in Miyazaki.

1980/1982 – Exhibits at the Triennale of Japanese Art Glass (1980) and the Exhibition of Traditional Manufactures (1981 and 1982) in Tokyo.

1984 – Leaves the Yamaya Company to dedicate himself full-time to his own art, organising one-man shows throughout Japan.

1985/1986 – Takes part in the project to re-introduce Satsuma Kiriko, a technique traditional to Kagoshima; the following year again exhibits at the Art Glass Triennale.

1988 – Begins planning the creation in glass of Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of the T?kaid?.

1989 – Founds the Miyazaki Aya Glass Art Studio, which soon becomes the central point of reference for the art of glassmaking in Japan. In this period he achieves public recognition, with the Japanese royal family often visiting his studio in Aya.

1994/1999 – Exhibits in New York, Palm Beach and London, receiving such awards and prizes as: The International Arts and Culture Award (1994), the Rome Grand Prize at the Rome International Expo (1995), the Greek Government Prize at the Athens Art Expo (1998), the Asian Medal of Honor at the Asian Art Renaissance Exhibition in Bangkok (1999).

2000 – Holds a large one-man show to celebrate the opening of the Museum of the Art of Glass in Hsingchu City (Taiwan); in the autumn also exhibits at the European Expo in Ghent. In the meantime he receives awards from Korea and other countries in Asia.

2001/2006 – Produces the first works inspired by Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations, which are exhibited in

2006. 2008 – In June, after twenty years of planning and work, he completes the entire series of the Fifty-Three Stations in glass, works which receive their first public display at Ca’ Pesaro (Venice) in November."