Collections and a guide to looking

ScopeTea bowls (Raku, Karatsu, Shino, Hagi), tea caddies, water jars, flower vases, incense boxes, iron kettles, kettles, and bamboo scoops.

Why it mattersThey carry chanoyu’s “harmony, respect, purity, tranquillity” and wabi-sabi, with attention to use (tea staining over years) and the feel in the hand.

ScopeRaku, Ko-Karatsu, Ko-Kutani, Imari, Kakiemon, Bizen, Tanba, Kutani, and other historic kilns.

How to lookWe look at kiln character, firing period, clay, the run of the glaze, the regularity of form, and the patina of long keeping.

ScopeMaki-e (flat and raised), mother-of-pearl inlay, incense boxes, inrō, writing furnishings, and lacquer stacking boxes.

CraftUrushi sap with gold, silver, and shell: minute splendour, and a surface that lives with time.

ScopeTachi, katana, wakizashi, tantō, tsuba, menuki, fuchi-kashira, and kozuka.

The lawWe follow Japan’s Firearms and Swords Control Law and arrange the Agency for Cultural Affairs registration and export permits as required.

ScopeZen calligraphy, hanging scrolls, Rinpa gold screens, yamato-e, ukiyo-e, and older paintings.

Care and lookingWe attend to period and authorship, inscriptions and provenance, the completeness of the mounting (silk), and the condition of the picture.

ScopeWood and bronze Buddhist sculpture from Asuka to Edo, Buddhist painting, ritual implements, folk utensils, and classical furniture.

Historical valueThey hold value for religious study and the history of sculpture, and a classical living beauty that can enter a modern room.