Akiko Hayashi presides over the glass studio, qualia-glassworks, in Gifu Prefecture, and conducts everything from designing to actual creation herself. The name "qualia" comes from a technical term in neuroscience that expresses the "quality" that ones feels in their heart. The works she creates based on her own sense of what is "just right" have this same feeling and truly practical appeal to them that one realizes upon using said works on a day-to-day basis.

Her latest work "based on the idea of making many small pieces to create one big work" is a series featuring various colors and shapes of vases. This work, created simulating the idea of you choosing small pieces from a large unit to make a smaller unit, delivers a scenery with differing charms by combining multiple vases. A diverse "unit" born from this single work is an original just for you, yet at the same time can also be traced back to a single strong purpose. In addition, one of the most important points about them are that they are extremely practical vases.