青幻舎 SEIGENSHA Art Publishing

Kuruminoki (“The Walnut Tree”) in Nara is a pioneering lifestyle café and boutique that has kept up its style for forty years, from before the concept of such shops even existed in Japan. Loyal fans, many from afar, come here for food and items carefully curated by the owner, Ishimura Yukiko—particularly the tableware, which Ishimura calls her major focus and major point of departure.

In the five chapters of this book, Ishimura presents a selection of the cherished utsuwa she has encountered throughout her life, starting from her teens. The first vessels Ishimura ever purchased on her own were dishes of white porcelain and blue-and-white she found at the antique flea market at Nogi Shrine, where her aunt, an innkeeper in Tokyo, took her when she was sixteen; the opening chapter looks back on those and following pieces that defined the core of her work and philosophy. Chapter 2 centers on wares that enrich occasions of communion with others, from Chinese tea implements to tea bowls, glasses, cups, and more all reflecting the value Ishimura places on time spent in conversation with pleasurable company.

The next chapter is devoted to vessels by artists with whom Ishimura has worked over the decades, including woodcrafter Mitani Ryuji—whom Ishimura calls “the most special to me” out of the many artists she respects, trusts, and loves—and glass artisan Tsuji Kazumi, whom Ishimura first learned about by chance through an article and was immediately taken by the urge to visit. Chapter 4 features Chinese and Korean antiques, works of modern ambience by contemporary Korean artists, and other finds from Ishimura’s travels. And finally, chapter 5 introduces creations by artists younger than Ishimura who she says inspire her to want to grow together with them.

The many utsuwa now in Ishimura’s possession have come to her through decades spent first visiting artists she looked up to, then connecting and cross-fertilizing with artists near her own age, and—more recently—experiencing wonder and discovery over the work of younger talents. Told here are the stories of Ishimura’s encounters—each fateful, each one-of-a-kind—with the treasures that have delighted her eyes over the years.

Ishimura Yukiko, born in Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture, grew up tutored in the art of living by her grandmother and spent her student days studying textiles and cultivating a taste for folk arts and crafts. In 1983 she opened the Kuruminoki (“Walnut Tree”) café and boutique on a small property she had come upon in the outskirts of Nara; still based in Nara, she now also offers consulting services to businesses and communities throughout Japan. Publications include Watashi wa muchu de yume o mita (I Dreamed a Dream with Everything I Had; Bungeishunju, 2009), Jibun to iu ki no sodatekata (Nurturing the Tree Called Yourself; Heibonsha, 2019), and Afureru hibi o, totonoeru (Sorting Out the Whirl of Daily Life; PHP Kenkyujo, 2023).