The Emperor's phantom porcelain set

[Hachiko]

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.


Clockwiserl from above: sake bottles with designs of magnolia, grapevines and eggplants (1975); vase with yubyokasai motif of a night heron (1989); one of five plates from the phantom dinner service, with kingfisher motif, all by Yoshimichi Fujimoto PHOTOS COURTESY OF MUSEE TOMO

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.

Japan Times