Over the centuries, Okinawa has become quite well-known for its cultural heritage and art. One of Okinawa's most distinct and well-known art forms is pottery, and the center for the pottery movement for the past three hundred years has been Tsuboya. This flask is an example of “joyachi” tsuboya ware, which is glazed and often colorful. Throughout the 20th century, Tsuboya had to overcome many challenges, including World War II, but it still remains famous as the center of quality art form pottery on Okinawa.

First used in China in the 12th century, chatter-marking first appeared in Okinawa and Kyushu folk kilns in the 18th century. It was done by applying a springy metal tool to the surface of a slipped pot. As the pot revolved on the wheel, the blade was applied to the slipped surface. The tool bounced and created a rhythmic pattern of nicks in the slip, exposing the contrasting clay underneath. A great deal of skill and experience was required for potters to utilize this technique successfully.

Onda pottery is often seen as the epitome of what the Japanese philosopher Soetsu Yanagi envisioned when he first developed the theory of "mingei" -- the folk craft movement in Japan -- in the late 1920’s. In his search for “unknown craftsmen” and their works, Yanagi discovered the tiny village of Onda Sarayama in Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Onda Sarayama was founded as a potting community in 1705 when kilns were opened by three potters. Little has changed about the process and aesthetics of ceramic production since that time. Today there are only ten kilns in Sarayama, and the current ten potters are all direct descendants of the original three men who founded the kilns. Because of the limited space in the mountain hamlet as well as the scarcity of natural materials, only one son per potting household is allowed to carry on the tradition, and no potters are allowed to move in from anywhere else. The clay is dug from nearby sources, a water-powered clay pounder still operates twenty-four hours a day, glazes are made from local raw materials, and all pieces are still fired in a “noborigama” (climbing kiln). The small size and isolation of the village have enabled the elder potters to control the course of production for decades, and they have made very few concessions to modernization. The small number of kilns also keeps Onda-yaki output limited relative to other ceramic production centers in Japan. (See the illustrated catalog entitled “The Ceramic Art of Onda” by Andrew L. Maske, produced for the 2007 exhibition “Onda Yaki: Japanese Folk Ceramics” at the Pucker Gallery in Boston, MA.)

Yanagi first became aware of Onda-yaki in 1931 when he visited the village for the first time, and he had high praise for these ceramics. They were made by well trained, highly skilled potters working in their traditional mode, using materials found nearby, and utilizing techniques that had been passed down from father to son for generations. In the early 1950’s he returned to Sarayama with renowned potter Hamada Shoji, and the Onda potters’ reputation became established among folk art connoisseurs throughout Japan. Further helping to foster the burgeoning interest in folk craft, the Japanese media gave considerable coverage to the famous English potter Bernard Leach when he visited Sarayama in 1954 and spent twenty days there learning the special techniques of chatter-marking and brush decoration from the Onda potters. As a result of this heightened visibility, Onda pottery was designated an “Intangible Cultural Asset” in 1970.

This lidded jar was acquired by a U. S. serviceman while stationed in Japan during the Allied Occupation immediately following the end of World War II. It was given to him as a token of friendship by a Japanese potter, and he was told it had been in the potter’s family for many years.