During our last year in Okinawa, my husband and I found a new hobby, collecting Okinawa pottery. It all started when we visited the Tsuboya Pottery Festival in Naha and we both found a few pieces we absolutely loved. After that, we decided to switch out our cheap dinnerware for pottery and we are so proud of our collection. I’ve shared a bit about my pottery on Instagram stories and got a few requests to share some tips. But first here’s some general information on Okinawa pottery:
“In the Okinawan dialect, “Yachimun” means “pottery”, and it is believed to have a history of about 800 years. This unique traditional style was created by taking various influences from ceramics in China, Korea, Japan and other parts of South-East Asia. The designs are often based on the various patterns and colors of the diverse nature that can be found in Okinawa, such as plants and fish, and they have a rustic feel to them so that the warmth of Okinawa can be felt from anywhere”, according to Okinawa Travel Info.
Tips for collecting Okinawa Pottery:
Pick a color theme – Although part of the fun is having unique pieces I decided to go with a color theme to keep things somewhat cohesive. The theme was based on the first pieces we purchased. We went with navy blue, brown, white, and a few bits of light blue thrown in there. Of course, you can forget that and go full-on mix and match, there are no rules.
Come with a budget – Handmade pottery can be very expensive, so we took our time building our collection. Every time we went to shop we made sure to have a budget. Usually, we’d take out a ¥10,000 bill from the ATM, since most shops don’t take card. So our budget would be about $100.
Bring your own bags – If you’re expecting to shop a lot bring your own recyclable bags! The shops will wrap your pottery with newspapers and plastic wrap, but it’s better to not have multiple plastic bags. I wear a backpack as a purse which makes it so much easier to walk around the small shops without being scared of hitting things and bring an extra recyclable bag for whatever doesn’t fit.
Come with an idea of what you want to buy – Okay this is mostly for those adding to their collection, but before leaving the house look at what you already have and figure out what you would like to add. It’s hard to remember what you already own and this way you won’t end up with too many of the same type of items. I have a weakness for cheap things, so I have a lot of tiny bowls because they’re just so cute and cheap. I wish I had gotten more plates, but those are usually much more expensive.
Tsuboya Pottery Street – My preferred place for pottery shopping! Located in Downtown Naha, just a few minutes from Kokusai Street. I love it because there are a crazy amount of shops on that road. Tsuboya Pottery Festival – For one weekend in November, 30 pottery studios exhibit their work at the Tsuboya Elementary School. The best part is that they have a bunch of items on sale! This was the first pottery event we went to, where we got hooked.
Yomitan Pottery Village – This area is super cute and more traditional Okinawan, a great touristy spot. It’s smaller than the pottery street, so not my favorite. Yomitan Pottery Festival – Happens in December and is one of the major festivals of the year. Like the other festival you can expect to find pieces on sale, so it’s a must-do! It was previously at the Zanpa Cape Park, but when we visited in 2017 it took place outside the new JA Farmers Market.
Pottery Festival at Hotel Moon Beach – A pottery festival at one of the most beautiful hotel in Oki? It doesn’t get any better! 51 potters from all over the island gather at Hotel Moon Beach in Onna Village every March. This event was bigger than all of the others and can be a bit overwhelming but definitely a must-visit!!
You can also find pottery in smaller spots like Cafe Doka Doka, touristy spots like Ryukyu Mura, PortRiver Market in Minatogawa Stateside Town, and even the Kadena/Foster BX get pottery vendors every now and then although the prices may be a bit higher on-base.. not 100% sure. Stephanie from Instagram wanted me to add that second-hand stores like Mangasouko and 2nd Street are also great places to find pottery pieces!
This is my husband’s favorite bowl, purchased our first time at the Tsuboya Pottery Festival, it was on sale!
I purchased the light blue and top flower plate first at the Moon Beach Festival, then found the shisa one at Ryukyu Mura and later realized they were the same style so I decided to hunt for one more to add to the collection. One of our last times at the Kadena BX I found the bottom flower one! Love how they look stacked and that the corners are all different colors.
I can’t remember exactly where I got the top and left one… but my guess would be the Yomitan Pottery Festival. The one on the right is from the Tsuboya Pottery Street. The bottom one from the Moon Beach Pottery Festival.
Tiny awamori shot cups from Ryukyu Mura. These two bowls I forgot I had because they’ve been hiding on my top shelf. The top one is from Cafe Doka Doka in Onna Village and the bottom one from the Moon Beach Festival. I also got the ramen bowl (below) from the same booth and the employee gave me the bigger awamori shot cup for free!
The first pottery piece I bought was a plate the same style as the bowl on the left, I got it our first time at the Yomitan Pottery Village. I got the bowl at the Moon Beach Festival to match the plate, but sadly I broke the plate recently… The small stacked bowl I got at the Yomitan Pottery Festival.
Love me some cute bowls! The top one was from the Tsuboya Pottery Festival, it was on sale because it’s a bit chipped. The whale shark bowl is from the Yomitan Pottery Village and the splatter bowl from the Yomitan Pottery Festival. I believe the bottom bowl is from the Tsuboya Pottery Street. The gorgeous plate on the right is by far my most expensive purchase, perfect for Japanese curry; got it at the Yomitan Pottery Festival.
Shisa cup from Kadena BX vendor // Swirly brown cup from Tsuboya Pottery Festival // Ombre brown cup from Yomitan Pottery Festival // Okinawa kanji cup from Hotel Moon Pottery Festival // Ombre blue cup from Yomitan Pottery Festival
This pattern is called minsa and it appears on a few pieces. The five squares in the pattern symbolize “forever” and the four squares symbolize “life”. Woven items with this pattern are considered to be a token of love and, in the old days they were gifted by wives to their husbands to express their love.
Two other bowls I forgot I owned because they’ve been stacked on the top shelf! The heart bowl was from the Yomitan Pottery Festival and I recently realized it’s a matcha bowl!! The bingata looking plate from the Moon Beach Pottery Festival.
As you can tell from the bottom row of the feature photo we don’t just have Okinawa pottery in our dinnerware. We added some acacia wood plates from the Marine Gift Shop because they go well with our theme. We also have some Japanese ceramic bowls from the souvenir store on Camp Courtney mixed with some plain white ones from Nitori, some smaller blue patterned bowls I scored at the BX, some Thai bowls from the Marine Gift Shop as well (in the back of the middle row) and some small cheap plates from Daiso.
I love how it all looks together and thankfully it all made it to North Carolina in one piece! Except for one tiny spoon that I didn’t see while unwrapping and accidentally broke in half. When we moved houses I also shattered my very first pottery purchase and almost cried, I’m hoping to buy a kintsugi kit someday and put it back together with gold.
Now in case you are wondering, we do use our pottery every day! The only way we could be ok with spending so much money was knowing we would actually use them. They can be microwaved and dish-washed in the top rack, but I mostly hand wash them.
Our Okinawa pottery collection is my favorite souvenir from our time on the island. I’m hoping we get to go back to Okinawa someday so that I can grow my collection some more!! Do you have something you collect?
