Wabi-sabi, ichigo ichie, and how objects return to rooms we live in.
Wabi-sabi is not simply “worn” or “broken.” It is a way of seeing impermanence, restraint, incompleteness, and the marks time leaves. Crazing, wear, even kintsugi, are medals of a conversation with time.
Meeting an object is a rare encounter in a long history. Value is not only a market price, but the resonance when a work that has crossed centuries reaches you, and the quiet years you may share with it.
Daikichi holds that antique art should return to living rooms. Works need not stay locked in cold cases: an old bowl can re-enter the tea setting, a century-old lacquer box can sit on a modern table, a gold screen can become the focus of a contemporary interior. Old and new together give an object new life.
Six cautions for new collectors
Hakogaki (inscriptions on the paulownia box) are valuable, but history also knows “true box, false object” and later replacement boxes. Judgement must return to the vessel itself: form, clay, craft, and period.
In a transparent market, a price far below a fair range often hides heavy restoration, later copies, unclear provenance, or missing papers.
Wear, tea staining, and oxidation that grow with use have a natural fade. Chemical distressing or smoked “age” is often harsh, sharp-smelling, and uneven.
Kintsugi makes a repair visible as craft. Resin fills, adhesives, and chemical concealment hide faults. The extent of restoration must be stated clearly before a sale.
Collecting is not simply “older is dearer” or “dearer is better.” Look first at museum-quality works to form an eye, then build a collection of your own.
Keep the work’s “papers.” Archive the original auction catalogue and lot number, receipts and contracts, official export/import documents, high-resolution condition photographs, and any expert opinions.
