Okinawa Pottery History and Tsuboya Yachimun Ware: Traditional Ryukyu Ceramics

Yachimun no Sato: The Villages Behind Ryukyuan Pottery

Ryukyuan pottery got its start during the Gusuku era, sometime between the 1100s and 1400s. It came over from China. That early influence helped shape what would later become a deeply Okinawan tradition.

By 1682, the Ryukyu Kingdom brought all the main pottery kilns together in one spot: Tsuboya. Before that, potters worked in Chibana, Wakuta, and Takaraguchi, but the government centralized it all in Tsuboya to better manage the craft. From there, two main types of pottery were made. Ara-yachi was rough and unglazed. Jō-yachi was finished with glaze and looked more refined.

After the Pacific War ended, many of the old kilns in Tsuboya had to be shut down or moved. They created too much smoke for the growing city around them. So the potters packed up and took their work to Yomitan and Ōgimi. These small villages became the new heart of Okinawan ceramics, carrying on the style and tradition known as Yachimun.

In 1954, a potter from Tsuboya named Jirō Kinjō became the first person from Okinawa to be recognized as a Living National Treasure. He helped preserve the craft and raised its profile across Japan.

Ryukyuan pottery is more than just bowls or teacups. It's used to make roof tiles, ceremonial urns, and shisa, those lion-shaped guardians you’ll see on rooftops or near gates in Okinawa. These figures are meant to block bad spirits and protect the space around them. They're one of the most recognized symbols of Okinawan folk culture.

Okinawan red clay roof tiles also stand out. They aren’t like the ones used on the mainland. The red color comes from a local clay called kucha, which is rich in iron. The process blends Korean methods brought in early on with later techniques from Japan, like glazing and high-temperature firing. What came out of that mix was something purely Okinawan. The tiles aren’t just eye-catching, they’re also built to hold up in the island’s hot, humid weather.

That mix-and-match approach is a big part of how Yachimun evolved. Okinawan ceramics blend many outside styles, but the result is something that doesn’t feel borrowed. It feels rooted. Every piece carries the history of where it was made.

Before Japan took over in 1879 and renamed it Okinawa, the area was known as the Ryukyu Kingdom. This island chain, shaped like a twisted rope in the sea, was an independent maritime state. For centuries, it was a key trade point between China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Its central location gave it an edge. Because it was a vassal state under China, it could act as a middleman in trade. Chinese ceramics, including celadon ware, came through the Kingdom and were shipped out again to places like Japan and Southeast Asia. That trade peaked in the 1300s and 1400s.

Early Ryukyuan Ceramics and the Rise of Arayaki Pottery

In the beginning, Ryukyu pottery was basic. It served everyday needs. Most of it was simple, unglazed stoneware called arayaki, also known as arayachi. These early pieces were practical, made to be used, not admired.

A change happened in the 15th century. Around that time, the Ryukyu Islands started importing a millet-based liquor called lao-lon. It came from Sawankhalok, in what is now Thailand. The drink was stored in large ceramic jars, and those jars had a big impact on Okinawan pottery. Locals didn’t just start brewing their own version of the liquor. They also copied the jars. The first of these Okinawan-made liquor jars were created in the Kina area of Yomitan. That village remains one of the main centers of yachimun today.

From Floating Rope to Unified Kingdom

Even before the Ryukyu Kingdom was officially formed in the 1400s, Okinawan islands were home to active kilns. For thousands of years, potters across the archipelago were making everyday ceramics for their communities. The islands form a long chain, and that shape earned it the name “Floating Rope.” In Japanese, it’s Okinawa. The Chinese version is Liu Qiu, which Japanese people read as Ryukyu. Locals call the land Uchina, and they call themselves Uchinaanchu.

It was during the 15th century that Okinawa entered a new phase. King Shō Hashi united the islands under the First Shō Dynasty. He ruled from 1422 to 1439. Shuri, which is now part of Naha, became the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It also became the main site for pottery production.

A key symbol of that era is the Bell of Nations, which still hangs in front of Shuri Castle today. The original is kept at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum. That bell has a 1458 inscription that tells of Ryukyu ships connecting trade between China, Korea, Japan, Siam, and the rest of Southeast Asia. This global movement sparked a boom in local pottery. New shapes, designs, and styles poured into the islands. Ryukyuan traders served as middlemen, moving goods between powerful countries.

That’s why pottery styles from this period show so many outside influences. Ryukyu potters were quick to adapt what they saw, blending it into their own look. Some pottery families have passed down their skills for centuries across the 160 inhabited islands in the chain. But two places stand out: Tsuboya in Naha and Yomitan just north of it. These areas earned their reputation by making some of the best pieces in Okinawa.

When the original author lived in Naha over 40 years ago, the city had already banned traditional wood-burning kilns. These kilns were vital for producing the glazes and textures unique to Ryukyu ceramics. Because of that, many potters left the city and headed to Yomitan. There, close to the sea, they built Yachimun no Sato, a pottery village where they could keep working in the old ways.

How Korean Potters Changed Okinawa's Ceramic Tradition

The next major change in Okinawan ceramics happened around the start of the 1600s. During that time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi led two invasions of Korea. As part of those campaigns, Japanese forces captured whole villages of Korean potters and brought them back to Japan. These skilled potters were scattered across the country. Many of them helped develop what later became famous styles, like Hagi ware in modern-day Yamaguchi and Arita ware in Saga.

But the potters who ended up in Satsuma, now Kagoshima, had the biggest impact on Okinawa. Their influence would mark a turning point in the region’s ceramic history.

Satsuma’s Takeover and the Start of a New Ceramic Era

In 1609, the Shimazu clan from Satsuma invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom. From then on, the kingdom was no longer truly independent. On paper, Ryukyu kept its title and existing tribute relationship with China. In reality, it became a vassal of Satsuma. For the next 250 years, Ryukyu had little control over its foreign trade. Satsuma pulled the strings behind the scenes.

Eight years later, in 1617, three Korean potters came to Ryukyu from their community in Satsuma. It’s believed they were invited by the king to help train local craftsmen and raise the level of the island’s ceramic production. Before they arrived, pottery in the region was still limited to basic, unglazed earthenware.

Two of the Korean potters went back to Satsuma after a while. But one of them stayed behind. His name was Chō Kenkō. In Korean, he was Jang Heon-gong, and in Japanese, Nakachi Reishin. He settled in Wakuta village and founded the Wakuta kiln. He’s thought to be the first person to produce high-fired stoneware in the Ryukyus, marking a major turning point in the craft.

Tsuboya Ware and the Height of Yachimun

Before 1682, kilns across Okinawa were scattered across different regions, including Chibana, Wakuta, and Takaraguchi. That year, the Ryukyu royal government pulled them together and centralized production in Tsuboya. From then on, Tsuboya became the main base for Ryukyuan pottery. Regional kilns faded, and Tsuboya ware became the standard style.

The move came during major repair work at Shuri Castle. The main palace building had burned down in 1660. In 1682, as they rebuilt the site, Tsuboya was chosen for its easy access to clay, its good shipping routes, and its hills, which made it perfect for building climbing kilns.

Tsuboya’s rise also owed a lot to new glazing knowledge. In 1670, the Shuri government sent a craftsman named Hirata Tentsu to China to study techniques firsthand. He came back in 1682 with skills in Chinese-style aka-e, or polychrome overglaze enamel. This helped launch Okinawa’s famous red-glazed stoneware.

That same year, Hirata made a large dragon head for Shuri Castle’s main hall. It was crafted using glazed joyachi and added metal parts. Hirata then trained local apprentices. One of them, Nakasone Kigen, began producing more everyday items using these styles. These colorful glazed wares, made for common people, became known as joyachi or joyaki.

This is where we get the two major types of Tsuboya ware: arayachi, which is unglazed, and joyachi, which is glazed. Both styles are still made today, using the same roots.

Tsuboya kilns didn’t just make plates and bowls. They also created items unique to Okinawan life. One was the dachibin, a crescent-shaped flask with loops at both ends for a leather strap. It was designed to hang on the hip, easy to carry for farmers working in the fields.

Also made in Tsuboya were shisa statues. These lion-dog figures are still seen all over Okinawa today. They sit on rooftops and at gates, used to keep away bad spirits.

Another type of pottery from this period was the zushigame. These are detailed, decorative caskets meant for storing bones of the dead. Some look like urns, others like tiny buildings. Each one was made with care, showing the deep respect Okinawans have for their ancestors.

The Fall and Comeback of Okinawan Pottery

In 1872, the Meiji government in Tokyo stripped the Ryukyu Kingdom of its independence. King Shō Tai was demoted to a local domain chief. By 1879, the kingdom was gone for good. The king was forced to leave and settle in Tokyo, and Okinawa Prefecture was officially created under Japanese rule.

Even with that political change, Tsuboya pottery found a bit of success for a time. The mainland started buying a lot more awamori, a strong Okinawan liquor. That boost in demand gave Tsuboya's potters solid business. Around 1900, about 30 new kilns were built, each one able to fire 1,000 large awamori jars in a single batch.

But this good run didn’t last. When Japan went to war with Russia in 1904, the economy surged, but mass-produced goods from the mainland flooded Okinawa. Factories in places like Arita sent cheap pottery south, and local handmade ware couldn’t compete. Tsuboya pottery, like many traditional crafts across Japan, began to fade from daily use.

Then came the Second World War. In 1944, the Battle of Okinawa destroyed most of the island. Whole towns were leveled. But somehow, Tsuboya’s district was spared the worst. Many of its traditional climbing kilns, along with the tools and raw materials, survived.

After the war ended, Tsuboya was one of the first areas where residents were allowed to return. By November 1945, around 100 potters had come back. They wasted no time. First, they made basic bowls and dishes for people still living in camps. Then, as locals returned home and rebuilding began, they turned to making water jars, roof tiles, and funerary urns again.

One key figure in this revival was Kinjo Jiro, born in 1912. He later became Okinawa’s first National Living Treasure. Japan regained control of Okinawa from the United States in 1972, just months before the writer of the original post arrived there. Kinjo kept the spirit of Tsuboya ware alive, using soft sea greens, deep blues, and natural ash glazes. He often added fish designs on a rich ochre base. His sons, now elderly, still make pottery in the same style. The grandsons run the shop today.

Their kiln is something to see. It's a noborigama - a long climbing kiln built into a hillside. It’s likely the longest of its kind anywhere. The kiln stretches so far, with thick greenery growing around it, that you can’t capture it all in a single photo. Each chamber along the slope fires at slightly different temperatures. As the ash flows upward, it settles differently in each section, giving the ceramics unique glaze patterns. To control the result, the potters sometimes place a piece inside a saggar, a round, clay-covered container that protects it during firing.

Lately, there’s been some confusion pushed by commercial groups in Japan. They’re promoting a false image of Tsuboya-yaki as red pottery with flashy gold enamel, which doesn’t match the tradition at all. This new look may sell, but it strays from the roots of Okinawan craft.

Even so, the old Tsuboya lanes still have something to offer. The museum is worth your time, and so are the old houses, like the Arakaki family’s mansion, now under repair. They give a glimpse into the deep history and craft behind Okinawa’s ceramic legacy.

Okinawan Culture and the Legacy of the Ryukyu Kingdom

When Japan took back control of Okinawa in 1972, the gap between Ryukyuan and Japanese culture was still easy to see. Everything from language and food to religion, clothing, and politics was different. Festivals, crafts, and the way people lived followed older patterns that had little to do with mainland Japan.

Okinawa is still filled with reminders of that older world. There are sixteen surviving castles from the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom’s three original regions. Scattered across the island are ancient turtleback tombs shaped like a woman giving birth. Built from coral limestone, these tombs stand beside roads, walls, and homes made from the same local stone. Castle walls too.

Shuri Castle was once the largest wooden building in the world. That changed during World War Two, when it was bombed. Since then, it’s been rebuilt and fully lacquered inside and out in deep red. The royal throne platform, known as the Usasuka, was restored by Maeda Koin, who was recognized as a Prefectural Intangible Cultural Asset. He decorated it with glowing pieces of mother-of-pearl from the great green turban shell. This particular shell only grows in the warm kuroshio current, found near the Ryukyus and Thailand. It's the finest quality in the world.

Back in the day, when Chinese envoys visited the Ryukyu Kingdom, they were struck by the hospitality, the graceful ceremonies, the palaces and castles, the refined food, the beauty of the textiles, and the skill in crafts like lacquerware and pottery. They called it the "Land of Courtesy." You can still see that message today, carved into the stone of the Shureimon, the “Gate of Preserving Courtesy,” which stands at the entrance to Shuri Castle.

Yomitan: Pottery, Clay, and Craftsmanship

In Yomitan, the pottery villages are surrounded by open sheds packed with tools, bundles of red pine kindling, and stacks of clay. Kilns sit nearby, large and long, built for shared use. The ground is full of broken shards, left from pieces the potters didn’t think were good enough to keep. That’s how seriously they take their work.

The red earth of Okinawa is a key part of the process. Workers filter it in wide, shallow ponds. The coarse grit settles out, and the soft clay is left behind. It’s then kneaded and worked by hand, shaped on a wheel, and left to dry. Decoration comes next. Potters use cobalt, copper, manganese, and chromium oxide for color, along with natural ash glaze. Then they fire the piece once, in one long burn.

This is not the same as the method used in the West. Western potters typically fire their work once to harden it, then glaze it, and fire it again. Okinawans skip that first step, going straight from shaping and decorating to the final firing. That approach gives Yachimun its unique look and texture.

Modern Yachimun: Mixing Old and New

Today, Okinawan pottery is still changing. New techniques and tools are being added to the mix. But when new methods come in, there’s always a risk that the old ways will disappear. One clear example was the temporary loss of the red-glazed Okinawan stoneware technique, which wasn't recovered until potter Kobashigawa Eisho brought it back in the 1900s.

To help prevent further loss, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology teamed up with Kitagama, a local pottery group, to study and document traditional Yachimun methods. Their research helped explain the science behind older techniques and is now helping to preserve them for the next generation.

Many potters still create pieces in traditional styles. But there’s also a wider variety of designs than ever before. These newer works reflect modern tastes and allow more room for personal style, yet they still feel rooted in Okinawa. You’ll still see the old fish and flower patterns, like the bougainvillea, but now they sit next to stars, birds, and bubbles. These newer motifs reflect how the craft is growing, while still staying tied to the island’s identity. 

Omine Jissei and the Modern Face of Okinawan Pottery

One standout among today’s potters is Omine Jissei. He works from Omine Kobo, a quiet studio at the far edge of Yachimun no Sato. His pieces catch the eye right away with their rich Persian blue and clean white surfaces. At first glance, they don’t look like what most people expect from traditional Okinawan ceramics. But the colors are rooted in the land. The blue comes from manganese pulled straight from Ryukyu rocks. That deep tone reflects the island’s sea and open skies. The white glaze is made from local limestone, the same kind used in 18th-century Tsuboya ware. That old style was famous for what people called "Okinawan white", a soft, natural look still valued today.

From Craft to Destination: Yachimun as a Cultural Hub

Yachimun isn’t just pottery anymore. It’s now a full-on destination. Thanks in part to the Mingei folk craft movement, handmade Japanese ceramics have a strong following across the world. That interest has pushed more people to discover Okinawa’s pottery villages.

Tsuboya, with its tight alleys near Kokusai Street in downtown Naha, sees a steady stream of visitors year-round. People come to buy bowls, plates, and shisa statues, or to browse shops and learn at the Tsuboya Pottery Museum. Others head out to Yachimun no Sato, where 19 studios are active and open to the public. You can often catch the artists in the middle of their work. Throughout the year, pottery markets draw big crowds. The Yomitan Pottery Market in February and the Tsuboya Pottery Festival in November are some of the biggest.

Why Visiting in Person Matters

If you’re even slightly curious about yachimun, timing your trip around one of these festivals is a good idea. But even outside of those events, a visit to Yachimun no Sato is worth it. You’ll see the process up close and get a feel for just how much time, skill, and care go into every item. Every bowl, urn, or tile reflects centuries of lived experience. Okinawan pottery has seen war, colonization, and change, but it’s still here, shaped by the past, but made for the present.

Tradition, With Room to Bend

Pottery in Okinawa has long been a male-dominated craft. But not too long ago, a young woman from Scandinavia came to study the art. She wanted to learn the full process, including the part that had always been closed to women: the firing. Since rules barred her from participating, the village made her an "honorary man." That workaround tells you a lot about Okinawa. Rules exist, but the people are willing to bend them when it matters.

A Living Craft in a Living Culture

If you’ve never seen Ryukyuan ceramics before, you’re in for a surprise. The textures are bold. The colors are bright. This isn’t Tokyo or Kyoto. Each island in the Ryukyu chain has its own way of doing things. You’ll find different glazes, shapes, and firing methods depending on where you go. The craft is shaped by geography, weather, and culture, and by the practical needs of everyday life.

But more than that, what stands out in Okinawa is the warmth of its people. Locals don’t just make beautiful things. They welcome you in. You’ll often hear, “Mensore, Ichido oide!” which means “Welcome, come visit!” And if you do, you’ll get a firsthand look at a deep, ongoing tradition; one that still holds meaning today.