For Japanese ceramic artist Hanako Nakazato’s first presentation in Taipei, CAREhER gathered 20 women around a table set with her work. With a menu inspired by Karatsu and Clarins Precious woven into the afternoon, the luncheon explored how craftsmanship becomes part of the way we eat, care for ourselves and live.
Some objects are made to be admired. Hanako Nakazato’s ceramics are made to be used.
On May 8, 2026, CAREhER welcomed 20 invited guests to NIX Lab in Taipei for the opening of Monohanako’s first Taiwan presentation. The table was set entirely with Hanako’s handmade ceramics, while Prairie Stuart-Wolff of Mirukashi Salon created a menu connecting the everyday food culture of Karatsu with seasonal ingredients from Taiwan.
Presented with Clarins, the afternoon brought together three forms of care: objects shaped by hand, food prepared for sharing and skincare experienced as a personal ritual.
A ceramic inheritance, expressed in her own language
Hanako was born into one of Japan’s most respected ceramic families in Karatsu, where her family’s relationship with pottery extends across more than 400 years. Her grandfather, Nakazato Muan, was recognised as an Important Intangible Cultural Property holder—often described as a Living National Treasure—for his contribution to Karatsu ware.
It is a significant inheritance, but Hanako has never allowed it to define the limits of her work.
After studying art in the United States, she returned to Karatsu to train with her father before developing a practice shaped by both Japanese ceramic traditions and her years in the West. Today, she divides her time between studios in Karatsu and Maine.
Her Monohanako pieces retain the earthiness and spontaneity associated with Karatsu pottery, while their relaxed forms feel entirely at home on a contemporary table. They are expressive without becoming precious about their purpose: plates are meant to hold food, cups are meant to be reached for, and every irregular edge becomes more familiar through use.
Taiwan and Karatsu, brought together at the table
Prairie Stuart-Wolff, Hanako’s partner and the founder of Mirukashi Salon, designed the luncheon menu around the food she cooks and serves in Karatsu.
Using Taiwanese seasonal ingredients, Prairie created three dishes that carried the ease of home cooking rather than the formality of a tasting menu. At the centre was onigiri—simple, hand-shaped and deeply connected to the memory of being cared for through food.
Each course was served on a different Monohanako piece, allowing guests to experience the ceramics as they were intended. The weight of a bowl, the texture of its glaze and the way a plate framed the ingredients became part of the meal.
There is a particular pleasure in using a vessel made by an artist sitting nearby. The object moves from exhibition piece to companion, and the conversation becomes less about collecting ceramics than about how we choose to live with beautiful things.
What makes something precious?
Clarins joined the luncheon with its Precious skincare line, introducing another interpretation of material, touch and daily care.
Rather than separating the product from the rest of the afternoon, the experience placed it within the same conversation. Guests could discover Clarins Precious alongside Hanako’s ceramics and Prairie’s menu, moving naturally between skincare, food, art and the personal rituals that make an ordinary day feel considered.
Beauty and ceramics may belong to different industries, but they share an attention to formulation, texture and time. Both become meaningful through use—not as objects kept at a distance, but as part of how a woman begins her morning, prepares for an evening or creates a table for people she loves.
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What remained after the table was cleared
The afternoon was intimate by design. With only 20 guests, there was time to notice the details, speak with the artists and understand the stories behind what was being served and presented.
What began as the opening of a ceramic exhibition became a conversation about inheritance, modern identity and the objects women choose to bring into their homes. Clarins Precious entered that conversation naturally, as part of an experience shaped around care.
This is what we enjoy creating at CAREhER: thoughtful encounters in which culture, lifestyle and community meet around something genuinely worth discovering.
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