Originating in Fukui prefecture and thought to have first been made from the end of the Heian era, Echizen pottery...

Possibly the best known of Japans six old kilns, Shigaraki stoneware pottery originated in the middle of the Kamakura period...

One of the oldest of Japans six ancient kilns, the distinctive stoneware native to the Bizen area of Japan has...

Japan has a long history and relationship with the creation of ceramics which are mainly used in traditional Japanese cultural...

Lacquer refers to the refined sap of the Toxicodendron vernicifluum tree, which when dried through a complex curing process, results...

SHOWA PERIOD: AD 1926-1989 Sh?wa period, corresponds to the reign of the emperor Hirohito. "The two Chinese characters (kanji) in...

TAISHO PERIOD: AD 1912-1926 "The period in Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Taish? emperor, Yoshihito (18791926). It...

MEIJI PERIOD: AD 1868-1912 "Direct imperial rule was restored in the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The name of the new...

EDO PERIOD: AD 1600-1868 "The Edo period is also known as the Tokugawa period, as for over 250 years the...

MOMOYAMA PERIOD: AD 1568-1600 This period of Japanese history was named after the castle of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98) at Momoyama,...

MUROMACHI PERIOD: AD 1333-1568 "After defeating the H?j? family in 1333, Ashikaga Takauji (1305-58) started to reorganize the government from...

KAMAKURA PERIOD: AD 1185-1333 "Kamakura is a small coastal town about 400 kilometres east of Kyoto across a mountain range....