Photon46, I like that one too. If you see it in person, it would amaze you. Of the basketmakers noted above, only the last three basketmakers (Uematsu-san, Matsumoto-san, and Tanioka-san) are alive, and they are all three in their mid 50s I believe. All told there are probably 15-20 basketmakers who have developed a small global reputation because of some representation by a dealer(s) in the US. Some artists would not be open to dealing directly with foreigners at all. Some might be open to dealing with foreigners directly in some instances and not in others (because of contractual relationships with their dealer/s). It would depend on the approach taken to get the 'last mile' (i.e. which intermediary used), the nature of their contract with their foreign dealer, the location of the approach (if made when the basketmaker was abroad, or made when the person was in Japan), and also probably on the person's nature. Only one modern basketmaker I know speaks much English - the current Tanabe Shochiku (who also exhibits under the name Tanabe Takeo for his modern works), a very nice young man who is the heir incumbent to the Chikuunsai name, who doesn't speak much English but is certainly willing to try, and travels and exhibits internationally, doing shows and demonstrations.
All active basketmakers I know are artisans, some of whom have their eccentricities when viewed from the collector's viewpoint. None of them have made or will be making money like Julian Schnabel and Richard Prince. As almost none speak any English, getting the intermediary is key if bypassing the established routes. I am in a weird place as I am a gaijin in Japan, because I have not gone through their established routes for dealing with gaijin, and I know or am known to most of the basketmakers at this point anyway, and my collecting priorities are not centered around current artists only. The ratio of recent to old baskets noted in the pictures above (4:14) is actually higher than in my collection overall.
All this said... if there is anyone visiting Japan who wants closer access to the world of basketry, I can probably assist in connections to either meet a basketmaker or three, or see baskets. Email for contacts if desired.
In any case, older baskets are far less expensive than newer works in a price per quality measure, because...
1) old basket sales don't need to pay the artist for his time and effort any more,
2) they are still under-appreciated (in my opinion - they are in a state like 20th century American and European furniture was 20-30 years ago),
3) because of lack of widespread knowledge of the form, we have 100 years of history to select from whereas in modern basketry, we have whatever happens to come through the galleries at any given time or over any given period.