Yoshihisa Tanaka Ibi-gun, Gifu Prefecture
Of the many elements that make UKA a unique dining experience, tableware is key. UKA’s chefs have curated the tableware to spotlight ceramics made by some of Japan’s leading artisans and traditional producers and to make each meal a treat for all the senses. One featured maker is Yoshihisa Tanaka, a metal artist based in Ibi- gun, Gifu Prefecture who draws on long traditions of metal craft in Japan to infuse contemporary objects with ancient technique. As in other regions of Japan, Gifu has been a hub for sword and blade-making for hundreds of years – but artists like Tanaka have adapted iron, brass, copper and stainless steel for use in everyday objects and vessels for food and drink. In his philosophy of metalwork, he explains that ever since ancient people extracted and worked metal using fire, “metals are also a gift from nature that changes and evolves with time”. Guests dining at UKA can experience this through Tanaka’s rimmed copper plates which he created through forging, a centuries-old method of shaping metal by hammering. Each piece is truly one-of-a-kind and balances delicacy and strength, a quality that makes metalcraft so beautiful.
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