Glass artists
Yamanone Glass
Based in Mimasaka, Okayama, Japan
Career
1985 — Gaku Kato was born in Saitama.
1988 — Junko Tanaka was born in Osaka.
2011 — Together, studied under Naoya Arakawa at Seikosha Glass Studio in Kyoto.
2019 — Began working as Yamanone Glass.
2020 — Became independent and worked from Kumagaya, Saitama.
2021 — Moved to Okayama Prefecture.
2022 — Built a glass furnace in Mimasaka, Okayama, and began full-time production.
Main practices: self-formulated glass and glassblowing.
About the artists
Yamanone Glass was founded by Gaku Kato and Junko Tanaka. They now make glass vessels in the mountain country of Mimasaka, Okayama.
Their work does not begin with glassblowing, but with glass itself. Starting with silica sand, they select and blend more than ten raw materials to make their own glass. From the furnace that melts the glass to temperature-control equipment and the molds used for blowing, they make as much as possible by hand.
This search for materials does not make their work complicated. On the contrary, Yamanone Glass vessels remain quiet and restrained. Subtle tones, bubbles, and movement within the transparent glass reveal different expressions as the light, the drink inside, and the surrounding environment change.
They make everyday objects such as glasses, bowls, sake vessels, bottles, and lighting. They do not want their work to overstate the presence of its makers.
Rather than becoming objects made only to be looked at, they hope their glass will be like a tool in daily life: picked up naturally, used, and returned to its place.
Day after day, it becomes an ordinary and familiar presence in everyday life.