This booth display at Japan House London presents a variety of hand-crafted ceramic (yachimun) products from Okinawa Prefecture, including bowls, teapots and animal figurines.

The display also includes a variety of vessels for the storing, measuring, drinking and offering of awamori (an Okinawan spirit distilled from rice).

About Okinawa ceramics

The Ryūkyū Kingdom (present-day Okinawa) was a major East Asian trading hub for ceramics from China and Southeast Asia. In 1616, Korean potters were invited from Satsuma to learn pottery making techniques at the Wakuta kilns, and in 1682, the Ryūkyū court consolidated three kilns to the south of the village of Makishi, giving rise to the home of present-day Tsuboya ware. 

After World War II, Naha City stopped the use of wood-fired kilns in residential areas due to smoke pollution, causing those potters in Tsuboya to change from wood-fired to gas and paraffin kilns. 

Today, in addition to those in the areas of Tsuboya and Yomitan, there are other kilns being established by young independent potters and artists, further continuing the ceramic tradition in Okinawa. 

The creation of this display is supported by Tsuboya Pottery Museum.