I’ll start with a couple caveats: I’m not the pots expert…studying, yes, but no hopes to be the savant who proofed this post before it landed; thanks again Ryan Bell, for your expertise and continued research. This is an aggregation of what I’ve found out there, because I like Koyo pots.

I believe Koyo pots will become more collectible as his production wanes, although he has been a prolific potter, so the scarcity isn’t the same as Tofukuji’s work.

First, a bio from Potterie Du Monde.

“Born Aiba Kouichirou, July 26, 1944
He opened his kiln, known as ‘the garden pottery Kouyou’ in 1970. Thereafter, in 1972 he won an award in the technical section and design during the first organization in the prize * Chouza. He also won in 1981, the prize of encouragement during the first design competition.

He shows his work focuses not only around the…

If this castle makes you think of Hamlet, you’re right: parts of the 1990 film starring Mel Gibson were filmed here, at Dunnottar Castle, just south of Stonehaven on Scotland’s northeast coast. And the Gibson connection doesn’t end there: in 1297 William Wallace, portrayed by crazy ol’ Mel in the bloody blockbuster Braveheart, recaptured the castle from the English during the wars for Scottish independence and after locking several hundred soldiers in the castle’s church, burned everybody inside alive. Dark history here, as with all castles, but the ruins are beautiful.

For more on Dunnottar’s long and dark history click here. Love castles? Me too! Check out my previous post from Germany: Castles in the Rain.

Another link to some great photos from the exhibition at Saulieu. Just click on the image below to visit.

I’ve been told that a good tokonoma display creates an setting through which the viewer can be transported to a specific place in time. The objects being displayed must work together to create a unified theme centered around a specific season.

Two of my favorite elements of summer, water and dragonflies, encapsulate the mix of activity and rest, stillness and movement experienced during the summer.  From the small pond in my parents backyard that was visited each summer by a fiery red dragonfly, to the matchstick thin damselflies that inhabit the stream I take my own son too; the dragonfly symbolizes summer almost as much as its aquatic habitat.

With that said it should be no surprise that I really liked this display. The main object in a very large (6 x 29.5 x 16.75), and may I add heavy, puddle stone (mitsumari-ishi) collected from the Saji river in…