The fragility and beauty of the world, expressed in glass

In 1970s Japan, skyscrapers started emerging in Shinjuku and working in glass caught the interest of a modernising nation. Hakaru Mizuguchi was one of the artists selected in 1981 for one of Japan’s first glass art exhibitions, Contemporary Glass – Australia, Canada, U.S.A. & Japan. In 1983, he went on to found The Glass Studio in Hakodate, which has become an integral part of the tourist experience among the red-brick warehouses by the bay in Motomachi.

Mizuguchi specialises in free-blown glassworks that express a personal warmth not achievable with machines. His studio offers visitors a close encounter with hand-blown glass, while his own works continue to explore the fragility, colour, and human touch that make the material so expressive. His decorations of the WMDF Tree have been a regular festival feature since Edition 005, bringing light and delicate reflection into the park. Through his work, local craft becomes part of the festival’s wider meeting of worlds.