A Childhood Spent Creating

Hanada: Could you tell me how you started making glassware?

Mai Mitome : I have always loved creating things. Do you know “Wakuwaku-san”? It’s a character from an old NHK children’s show called “Tsukutte Asobo” (Let’s Make and Play) who would build all kinds of things, and I used to copy him one after another.

Hanada: So you made a great variety of things.

Mai Mitome : I also loved cooking…

Hanada: So your passion for creating extended to food as well.

Mai Mitome : Looking back, it wasn’t about a specific thing, but rather the act of creating itself that brought me joy. When I was in the first grade, I became obsessed with making rolled omelets, which my mother taught me, and I made them almost every day. Soon after, I moved on to cookies.

Hanada: Were there any other things you enjoyed making?

Mai Mitome : I also liked sewing, making items like tote bags and pocket tissue pouches. I enjoyed woodworking too, and I once even built shelves inside my closet.

Hanada: It sounds like you were the real Wakuwaku-san (laughs). Did that continue into junior high school?

Mai Mitome : In junior high school, I joined the tennis club, so I spent a bit less time crafting. I ended up continuing tennis all the way until I graduated from university.

Hanada: You truly give your all to everything you do.

Mai Mitome : I think I just love sticking with one thing. It’s rewarding to delve deeply into something and see where it leads.

Hanada: Were you always aware of that trait in yourself?

Mai Mitome : No, I wasn’t aware of it at all, so I only realized it quite recently (laughs). It doesn’t come from a sense of obligation, nor am I forcing myself, but I think I genuinely enjoy working hard. Sometimes I admire the trend of just taking things easy, but in the end, pushing myself to my limits feels the most fulfilling.

“Mai, Keep Making Things”

Hanada: For university, you decided to go to an art school.

Mai Mitome : Seeing me always making something when I was a child, my two much older sisters used to tell me, “Mai, you should go to an art university.”

Hanada: Meaning, “Mai, you must keep making things” (laughs).

Mai Mitome : Without even understanding what it really meant, I grew up convinced that I was destined for art school. Though I think my sisters were actually better at drawing than I was (laughs).

Hanada: And from there, you chose the crafts department.

Mai Mitome : The appeal of crafts is that you can see a piece through by yourself, all the way from the initial concept to the final creation.

Hanada: Why did you choose glass?

Mai Mitome : During our first year, we were given the opportunity to try out a whole range of materials, and glass was simply the most enjoyable for me.

Hanada: And that led you to glassblowing and the murrine technique.

Mai Mitome : Out of all the techniques, glassblowing had a physical, athletic feel to it that suited me perfectly. It feels as though the glass is responding directly to your actions. At first, most of the responses are not very encouraging. It was very much a case of, “This isn’t doing what I want at all” (laughs). But exploring it, even without fully understanding it, was wonderful.

Mai Mitome : As for murrine, I just found it incredibly charming—both the overall patterns and each tiny individual piece. I think I am drawn to the way small pieces are arranged together to form a single object. When I was a child, I used to collect novelty erasers that looked just like murrine patterns (laughs).

Experience and Repetition

Hanada: What did you do after graduation?

Mai Mitome : I worked at Sai Glass Studio in Kawasaki for about ten years. At first, there were senior staff members, but several people left around the same time, and suddenly I realized, “Oh, am I the most senior person here now?” Because of that, I had more opportunities to work closely with Mr. Ito, who runs the studio, and that proved to be an invaluable learning experience.

Hanada: Staying with something for a long time brings its rewards.

Mai Mitome : Yes, indeed. I faced many doubts back then, but looking back now, I am truly glad I stayed. Glassblowing is incredibly deep; just when you feel you’ve mastered something, a new challenge presents itself. It changes depending on the conditions, requiring you to anticipate all sorts of factors. It really builds character (laughs). Experience is absolutely essential.

Hanada: After that, you established your independence.

Mai Mitome : That’s right. It has been a steady cycle: making pieces, having a place to show them, seeing people who appreciate them come back for the next exhibition, and then meeting new people there who will visit the next time. That continuous process is what brought me to where I am today.

Time for Conceptualization

Hanada: One of the distinctive features of your murrine work is how you place patterns at the bottom of the tableware. There must be many different steps involved in creating murrine.

Mai Mitome : I love every single part of the process. I enjoy cutting each piece individually, and I also love the time spent conceptualizing, thinking about what to create next. I begin with a broad image in mind, like “the sky is here, and there is a dragonfly around this area,” and then decide on the specific pieces I will need. For example, with a dragonfly, I will draw various patterns first, and once I find the right design, I scale it to the size it will actually be made. The appearance changes quite a bit depending on the size.

Hanada: With murrine, if you make a mistake once, that mistake gets multiplied many times over.

Mai Mitome : Oh, absolutely (laughs). But you learn what works and what doesn’t through those mistakes, so I accept it as part of the process. It’s because of those experiences that I can create what I do now.

Scenery from Memories

Hanada: Is there a particular theme you focus on in your murrine work?

Mai Mitome : I want to create pieces using the landscapes that remain in my childhood memories as motifs or inspiration.

Hanada: You seem to remember many of the sights from your childhood.

Mai Mitome : I have always loved looking back at the childhood photos that my mother saved for me. Doing that brings all those memories right back to life.

Hanada: Those feelings are beautifully transferred into your tableware. Perhaps that is why using your pieces brings about a wonderful sense of nostalgia.

Mai Mitome : In the introduction on Hanada’s website, you wrote that my work has “a certain sense of nostalgia,” which made me incredibly happy. It made me feel that people who look at my work are sharing the very same feelings I put into it.

An Illusion of Presence

Hanada: The shaping of your tableware is also exceptionally meticulous.

Mai Mitome : In the early days, when I placed the murrine at the bottom, the base would inevitably end up too heavy. I really struggled with that. Customers would often tell me, “It’s lovely, but it’s quite heavy” (laughs). However, it shouldn’t just be light for the sake of it; you also need to find ways to make the murrine patterns reflect beautifully throughout the entire piece.

Hanada: So the reflections were carefully calculated. Is that why the shapes appear linear at first glance, but feel slightly curved when touched?

Mai Mitome : Exactly. I felt that it gives the overall piece a softer look.

Hanada: While looking at them from directly above is beautiful, people usually view them from a slight angle, which makes the reflection on the sides very important.

Mai Mitome : I want them to be delightful to look at from any angle. When nostalgic scenes and feelings find expression in glass, I especially love the visual effect of the reflections. A reflection makes you feel as if something is there even when it actually isn’t, which feels very similar to holding onto a memory. I create my tableware by drawing on the unique power of these reflections.

Surrounded by Hydrangeas (Plans for the Future)

Hanada: What would you like to focus on next?

Mai Mitome : While it’s not about the production process itself, I want to get my new studio, which is currently under preparation, fully up and running before the end of the year.

Hanada: That sounds very exciting.

Mai Mitome : Also, because I love hydrangeas, I plan to plant lots of them all around the building. I’m currently buying saplings to get everything ready. The next time you visit, the place will probably be covered in hydrangeas (laughs).

Hanada: I look forward to that. By the way, what made you fall in love with hydrangeas?

Mai Mitome : It was my mother’s influence. I was born and raised in Kanagawa, and when I was a child, she would often take me early in the morning to Kamakura to see the hydrangeas before school. My reason for loving them is actually very similar to why I love murrine—the way tiny flowers gather together to form one beautiful, round shape.

Hanada: Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful stories today. Best of luck with the upcoming exhibition.

Mai Mitome : I hope our customers enjoy exploring all the different aspects of the work.

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