Night Sky & Cosmos
Night Sky & Cosmos
Silver leaf floating on jet-black glass, capturing the star field seen above Okinawa. Light and shadow move across the glass, echoing the motion and shine of the cosmos beyond the edge of the atmosphere.
About this theme
Okinawa's night sky holds stars rarely seen on mainland Japan. Because the island lies further south, stars that stay below the horizon on the mainland rise above the sea line here. The Southern Cross, too, belongs to skies south of Okinawa. On a dark shore with few lights, the night opens unbroken to the horizon.
On the island, the Milky Way has long been called tingara. In 2018, the skies of Yaeyama became Japan's first certified Dark Sky reserve. Because Okinawa is ringed entirely by sea, the stars appear to rise not from behind mountains but from within the sea itself.
The makers featured here were moved by that night sky, and by the cosmos spreading endlessly beyond it.
Series
Ginga (Galaxy)
Sueyoshi Seiichi, Contemporary Master Craftsman
As a child, Sueyoshi loved watching the sky while night-fishing. The cosmos holds countless galaxies, and every star its own color and character. Drawn to that world, and inspired by the widely discussed Halley's Comet, he set out to hold a meteor shower inside glass. Having worked mostly in clear glass until then, Sueyoshi turned to black glass for the first time with Ginga. To form a comet's core, he fired gold leaf into the black glass, but the gold burned away and vanished. Through repeated trials, he found that silver leaf would hold as small grains on the surface instead. In the kiln, each grain turned a different shade of blue, forming the many stars that float across a night sky. Silver leaf glinting against jet-black glass evokes the space beyond the edge of the atmosphere, with a depth and a quiet, mysterious light.
Cosmo
Sueyoshi Seiichi, Contemporary Master Craftsman
Cosmo captures not the cosmos itself, but the night sky as seen from the ground. Large and small bubbles stand in for stars, so these pieces are featured on the Bubbles page as well.
Tingara (Milky Way)
Tingara scatters silver leaf and layers glass designed to store light. Light gathered in a bright space lingers faintly after the room goes dark. Evening Stars and Island Stars follow the same principle, quietly releasing at night the light they absorbed during the day.