Smooth Bent Dublin (Kikuchi) (G) (124) Tobacco Pipe

While the first thing I think of when picturing a Kikuchi-made Ikebana is some manner of compact, well-rounded shape, Asami has more up her sleeve. We've seen several very Sixten-ish Acorn shapes by her too, for example, which isn't surprising given that her pipe-making mentor at Tsuge Ikebana, Kazuhiro Fukuda, was at one time a pupil of Sixten's. So while I was a little surprised to see something so tall and slim in style as this lofty, plateau-crowned Dublin bearing her mark, it was just that: a little surprise, rather than a total one. I can actually see some Sixten underneath the surface on this one, in the gentle bend and high style the elder Ivarsson was no stranger to, here simply translated into something both broader of rim and handier in length.

- Eric N. Squires