March 4, 2024 木本誠一

47 | History of Glassware: Japanese Glass Manufacturers, Handmade Glass Factories Part 17

Hello everyone. They say spring is near when it alternates between three cold and four warm days, but the recent cold weather, after a spring-like warmth in mid-February, is quite taxing on the body. Please take good care of yourselves.

From this time, I will be talking about Kagami Crystal, purveyor to the Imperial Household Agency, now known as "KAGAMI".

Kagami Crystal began in 1930 (Showa 5) when Kozo Kagami established the Kagami Crystal Crafts Glass Research Institute in Takinogawa, Tokyo. After studying ceramics at Tokyo Higher Technical School, Kozo Kagami joined the South Manchuria Railway Ceramic Experiment Station in 1920 (Taisho 10) and engaged in ceramic research. Later, he was ordered to study in Germany to learn glass craft techniques, and in 1927 (Showa 2), he went to the National Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts in Stuttgart, Germany. Kozo Kagami was 41 years old at the time. For a year and a half at the school, he studied glass carving such as gravure and cutting under Professor Wilhelm von Eiff, the principal, and became fascinated by glass crafts. After returning from his studies in 1929 (Showa 4), he independently established the Kagami Crystal Crafts Glass Research Institute. He built his own glass studio and began his challenge as a glass craftsman. Kagami, who originally had a high artistic sensibility, gained confidence by being selected for the 13th Teiten exhibition (now the Nitten exhibition) for the first time in 1932 (Showa 7), and rose to prominence in the glass industry.

In 1934 (Showa 9), he established "Kagami Crystal Works," Japan's first crystal specialty factory, in Ota Ward, Tokyo. In the same year, he received a special selection at the 15th Teiten exhibition, and the excellence of his work quickly became recognized. Thereafter, his work gained international recognition, including a silver medal at the Paris International Exposition in 1937 (Showa 12) and an honorary award at the New York World's Fair in 1939 (Showa 14). In 1943 (Showa 18), when Princess Shigeko, daughter of Prince Higashikuni, married, Kagami Crystal supplied furnishings (imperial goods) to the imperial family, thereby becoming a purveyor to the Imperial Household. In 1954 (Showa 27), with the reopening of overseas diplomatic missions in various countries, Kagami Crystal began supplying crystal products to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as equipment for these missions. In 1958 (Showa 33), it won the Grand Prix at the Brussels World's Fair, and in 1960 (Showa 35), Kozo Kagami received the Japan Art Academy Award, one of the highest honors for artists, for the first time in the field of crystal glass.

Kozo Kagami's belief was "the pursuit of a supreme crystal brand loved across generations and time," and he established his position as a top brand in crystal glass. Currently, KAGAMI is officially used in over 250 Japanese embassies and consulates and is a leading glass tableware manufacturer in Japan.

While the previously mentioned HOYA Crystal withdrew from the business and crystal glass manufacturing has almost disappeared in many countries worldwide, Kagami Crystal's integrated production of crystal remains a rare existence globally.