Rarely, if ever, has a dinner set taken on such a mysterious aura as the maboroshi (phantom) porcelain service made by the late Yoshimichi Fujimoto (1919-92). Used only once and then, for reasons that remain enigmatic, hidden away for years, it comprises 230 pieces, enough to serve 15 diners. Only two, though, have ever used the set -- the Showa Emperor and Empress, who dined off it in 1976. The dinner service was then sentenced to a dark and fabled existence . . . until now.
Showing at the wonderful Musee Tomo in Tokyo until Sept. 23 is an exhibition -- "Yoshimichi Fujimoto Overglaze Porcelain: The Phantom Dinner Set for the Showa Emperor" -- that gives visitors the chance to see this historical set along with other Fujimoto masterpieces. All are simply enchanting.
Fujimoto's career was twofold: besides being a ceramic artist par excellence, he was also an extremely influential teacher at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts. The impact he made in the latter role is clearly evident from the works of his students, now established potters, some of whom are regrettably so in thrall to their late master that they produce dull and lifeless Fujimoto copies.