According to the box lid, this set of six side dishes, or mukōzuke, are “snow-flower style” (sekkashiki), having mouths shaped like snowflakes. Their mouths, which have six lobes and scalloped edges, are traced with brown iron oxide at the rim. The outside of each bowl is glazed with a very bright pink over the basin and foot, and the inside is left white. From directly above, one sees a snowflake-like shape, and from the side, they seem to float above a rosy ground.
View the original at Cleveland Museum of Art →Article 1 sets a purpose larger than preservation: to preserve cultural properties AND to make use of them, contributing to the cultural advancement of the people and to the progress of world culture. Article 4 turns that outward. An owner must recognise the object as a precious national asset, preserve it for the public, and make it public as far as possible. Ownership here carries a duty to show.
The cool part. "Living National Treasure" appears nowhere in the statute. Article 71 requires that when an Important Intangible Cultural Property is designated, the minister must also certify its holder or holding group. Japan does not register the pot, it registers the potter. Article 96 is the one that reaches ordinary people: if you uncover a shell mound, a dwelling site or a tumulus, you must leave it exactly as it is and notify the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs without delay, and the Commissioner can freeze the ground for up to three months.
Verify at e-Gov 法令検索 →Use it Two-colour foil on uncoated stock gets you most of this at production cost.
Description source: museum curator text — not generated