We spend three days with Mori-san, who refuses gloves. Her Shigaraki tea bowls are legendary for their koge —a charred, glassy scar that occurs only when a piece of pine ash lands just so during the 1,300°C firing. “A mistake is a memory,” she says, pulling a bowl from the ash bed. “The fire remembers where your thumb hesitated.”
Issue 07: “The Tension of Touch” Spring/Summer 2026 | $35 USD
EDITOR’S LETTER On the Virtue of Resistance
PAO Collection Magazine is printed on FSC-certified, uncoated paper. No lamination. No perfumed inserts. The ink will transfer to your fingers. We consider this a feature.
Welcome back to the grain.
Issue 07, The Tension of Touch , is an argument for the beautiful obstacle. For the cast iron pan that demands seasoning. For the wool sweater that breathes only when you do. For the door handle that requires a palm, not a pinky.
We spend three days with Mori-san, who refuses gloves. Her Shigaraki tea bowls are legendary for their koge —a charred, glassy scar that occurs only when a piece of pine ash lands just so during the 1,300°C firing. “A mistake is a memory,” she says, pulling a bowl from the ash bed. “The fire remembers where your thumb hesitated.”
Issue 07: “The Tension of Touch” Spring/Summer 2026 | $35 USD
EDITOR’S LETTER On the Virtue of Resistance
PAO Collection Magazine is printed on FSC-certified, uncoated paper. No lamination. No perfumed inserts. The ink will transfer to your fingers. We consider this a feature.
Welcome back to the grain.
Issue 07, The Tension of Touch , is an argument for the beautiful obstacle. For the cast iron pan that demands seasoning. For the wool sweater that breathes only when you do. For the door handle that requires a palm, not a pinky.
