[Snow Bowls from the North]

What do you imagine when you think of snow? I think everyone has their own image of snow, other than the cold, white stuff that falls in winter. For me, snow is connected to my memories of a snow country where I spent only a few years in my childhood. Looking up excitedly at the first snowfall. The way the world suddenly becomes quiet when snow piles up. The delicious taste of cocoa while watching the snow fall and drinking it inside the house. The softness of freshly fallen snow that sinks when you step on it, but the day after a sunny day, the surface freezes solid and you can walk on it. The frozen darkness of a blizzard day and the dazzling light of a sunny day. The inside of a kamakura is a faint shade of blue. Being stuck in the snow on the way home from school and having to be dug out by an old man in the neighborhood. The sound of snow falling with a thud from the roof. The joy of the melting snow after a long winter. The snow changes its expression from moment to moment.

The vessels from the Seiryugama in Hiraishimizu, Yamagata Prefecture, are made with the image of snow in mind. The slightly bluish-white skin of the bowls has a hint of grayish clay, and when you touch them, they feel cool and soft, so comfortable that you want to wrap your hands around them forever. Snow is snow, but the snow on this vessel is “lingering snow. Zanzayuki is a spring seasonal word that means “snow that remains after it has disappeared. Spring in the north is a time when plants, which have endured under the snow for a long time, come out all at once and blossom, as if to say, “I have been waiting for this! I can't help but imagine that there might be butterbur sprouting under the white glaze as I hold the bowl in my hand.

The “Zansetsu” series includes Shallow Bowl, Bowl, Donburi, Rice Bowl, Teacup, Sencha Cup, Soba Set, and Ichirinzashi. The bowls come in three sizes. They have a cute rounded shape with a gokezoko bottom without a base, and when stacked in different sizes, they fit together perfectly, so they are not bulky in the cupboard. On the other hand, the bowls have a firm base, so they can hold hot soup. The tasteful white color of “Zansetsu” beautifully enhances any dish, regardless of whether it is Japanese or Western.

This year, too, we have begun to receive news of snow from northern Japan. This winter, why not enjoy a warm meal in a snow bowl waiting for spring?

Seiryugama's Bowl
https://www.shokunin.com/en/seiryu/hachi.html
Seiryugama's Donburi
https://www.shokunin.com/en/seiryu/donburi.html
Seiryugama's Teacup
https://www.shokunin.com/en/seiryu/yunomi.html
Sanjo Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/sanjo.html