HAYATO EIHARA
Founder & President, Japan Classic
榮原 颯人

I founded Japan Classic while studying at Keio University.
There are many reasons why I chose to pursue this path.

In today’s world, inexpensive, mass-produced tableware and furniture dominate everyday life, and many people rely on industrial products. I do not deny their value. These products are affordable and have supported countless lives—including my own, as I once depended on them when I was younger.

However, the reason I began working with handmade pieces by Japanese ceramic artists comes from a deeply personal memory: my grandmother’s smile.

When I was around six or seven years old, I often stayed overnight at my grandmother’s house, which no longer exists today. The morning after each stay, she would always prepare breakfast for me. One particularly cold morning, with the chill seeping into my feet, she gently woke me and led me to the living room. As always, a warm breakfast awaited me, along with green tea poured into a yunomi—a traditional Japanese teacup.

The yunomi was unglazed, with a pleasantly rough texture and a thick rim that held warmth beautifully. As a child, I wrapped both hands around it while sipping the tea, and my grandmother watched me with a beaming smile.

Today, I can no longer clearly recall the sound of her voice. Yet every time I hold a yunomi, the memory of her beloved smile comes vividly back to me.

Handmade ceramics lack the uniformity of industrial products. Instead, they possess complexity and individuality. Unlike smooth, indistinguishable tableware found anywhere, pieces with strong character are remembered alongside the moments and memories they accompany.

It is for this reason that I choose to offer only one-of-a-kind, handmade works—so that each piece may become part of someone’s precious time and cherished memories.

Thank you for taking the time to read this personal story.
And thank you, sincerely, for choosing Japan Classic.

Japanese ceramics, especially the finest works, are all handcrafted by a select few master artisans. As such, most of these creations are reserved for use in prestigious restaurants and traditional inns, rarely entering general circulation. In Japan, relationships have always been valued deeply, and these works were never something that could simply be purchased with money. Instead, they were passed on only within the bonds of trust carefully built over time between the creator and the recipient.

At Japan Classic, we bring these hidden treasures of the highest caliber to the world, delivering them to anyone, anywhere.

We do so because we want more people to discover the timeless beauty of Japanese tradition, and because we hope that each dining table, each daily moment of our customers, becomes something beautiful and filled with love.

For human beings, dining is not merely about nourishment. The number of meals in a lifetime is finite. It is a sacred time in which we gratefully receive the lives of animals and plants. Our wish at Japan Classic is to help make these precious moments, these moments of dining, into something truly special.

We hold dear the phrase:
“Those Who Cherish the Table, Cherish Their Family.”

To those who treasure mealtime, we wish to deliver our works. For all who seek to make dining a special occasion, whether for family, for themselves, or for the joy of being surrounded by beautiful tableware, it is our heartfelt desire that our creations find their way to your table.