Japanese style cut glass "Hana-arashi (Flower Storm)"

Kiriko cut glass · Storm and blossom · Handcrafted in Japan

A storm caught in glass
Hana-arashi — "flower storm" — captures a moment that lasts only seconds in nature: petals lifted by wind, suspended briefly before they fall. The cuts on this glass are fluid rather than geometric, tracing the movement of that instant. Held in light, the pattern shifts. Turned slowly in the hand, it reads differently each time.

Patterns with centuries of meaning
Alongside the storm-like cuts, two traditional Japanese patterns are engraved into the glass: kiku-tsunagi, a linked chrysanthemum motif long associated with prosperity and longevity, and hakkaku-kagome, an eight-pointed lattice pattern traditionally used as a ward against misfortune. The combination is deliberate — movement and stillness, nature and symbol, held together in a single object.

Color and light as the material
As light passes through, the layered colors shift and shimmer. This quality — color that behaves differently depending on the angle, the time of day, the source of light — is central to what makes this piece worth returning to. On a table, on a shelf, in use: it brings something to the moment around it.

A former designer turned Kiriko artist
Noriko Chikaraishi's work sits at the intersection of tradition and her own visual language. Her designs carry subtle echoes of Western architectural form while remaining rooted in Japanese cut glass — quietly extending the tradition rather than departing from it. The layered colors and gradations are unmistakably her signature, shaped by the refined color sense she developed during her earlier career as a designer.

Her encounter with Kiriko began with a moment of awe — "I couldn't believe something this beautiful could be made by human hands." That sense of wonder continues to guide her work.

"Kiriko glass is the culmination of techniques passed down through generations. Encountering such handcrafted beauty amid a busy daily life brings a sense of cultural richness and calm — a quiet, unhurried moment in the middle of everything."
— Noriko Chikaraishi, artist