Cheek Armor Cup, Ki Form, Crimson Gold

Chanoyu, the tea ceremony, developed as a comprehensive Japanese art tied to samurai refinement. Sake vessels developed as kaiseki tableware inheriting that lineage.
Koga describes this work as "a porcelain sake cup in the form of cheek armor, arrived at inevitably from the close ties among the tea ceremony, Sengoku warlords, and craft — ceramics in particular."

"The present age is truly one of gekokujo," says Koga.
As social media developed and everyone came to hold a voice, an era emerged in which one's own will to aim high and courage to speak up mattered more than one's origin or hometown. Within this worldview, {Hoyoroi Sakazuki} takes the kawari-kabuto (distinctive helmets) of Warring States warlords as its motif, expressing the human way of life and spirit — an encouragement for today's high-minded warriors.