Hanshin Umeda stages a 15th solo show for a ceramicist honoured by the emperor
Hanshin Umeda's eighth-floor art gallery is staging a 15th solo exhibition for Shino and Oribe ceramicist Hayashi Shotaro (林正太郎), who received the Order of the Rising Sun in 2025 -- a reminder that department-store art galleries still sell work at six-figure yen prices, not just rent floor space to tenants.
Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores said its Hanshin Umeda main store is holding a 15th solo exhibition of work by ceramicist Hayashi Shotaro (林正太郎) at its eighth-floor Art Gallery from October 28 to November 3, titled, in floortok's translation, "Challenging Miraculous Sculptural Beauty" (奇跡の造形美に挑む).
Hayashi, born in 1947 in Toki, Gifu Prefecture, works in the Mino ceramics tradition, centring his practice on Shino ware and its feldspar-blended glazes, alongside Oribe pieces, and has served as vice-chairman of the Mino Ceramics Association since 2003. He received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, in 2025 for his contribution to Japanese ceramics, according to the department store. Prices for the works pictured in the release range from ¥385,000 for a Manyo-iro (万葉彩) flat vase to ¥1,320,000 for an Oribe tea bowl decorated with a Mount Fuji motif.
Fifteen solo shows at the same department-store gallery over the years is its own kind of loyalty programme, between an artist whose honours keep rising and a retailer that still has a six-figure-yen clientele willing to buy ceramics off a department-store floor rather than a gallery.