Japan · Ceramics / Glazed Earthenware and Slip Decoration
上焼 (Jōyachi / Jōyaki)
Jōyachi (上焼, 'upper/fine-fired ware') is the glazed, decorated branch of Tsuboya ware in Naha, Okinawa: slip-covered tableware, sake vessels and vases painted, carved and glazed with natural stone-and-coral glazes. Its lineage runs through Korean potters — Ichiroku, Ikkan and Sankan — brought from Satsuma in 1616 to found Wakuta ware, and through Hirata Tentsū, sent to Qing China in 1670 to learn overglaze enamel painting; in 1682 the royal government merged the Wakuta, Chibana and Takaraguchi kilns at Tsuboya. Jōyachi has distinctly Okinawan forms — the dachibin (抱瓶, a crescent-shaped flask worn at the hip) and the karakara (spouted awamori server) — and distinctly Okinawan techniques, above all jīgakī (生掛け): glazing the raw, unbisqued body directly. The fish motif became Tsuboya's emblem. After decline under cheap mainland competition in the Meiji and Taishō eras, jōyachi was revived after Yanagi Sōetsu's Mingei movement took it up from 1938, praising the rarity of such decoration on commoners' everyday ware.
Risk level: Stable · Not inscribed. National: 'Tsuboya-yaki' METI-designated Traditional Craft Product, June 1976. Living National Treasure for 'Ryukyu pottery': Kinjō Jirō (1985, d. 2004)
Echizen Washi (越前和紙) is the premier Japanese paper-making tradition of Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture — producing hosho (奉書) paper for woodblock printing, calligraphy, and document certification since the Heian period (794–1185 CE), and…
Kiyomizuyaki (清水焼) is the umbrella designation for Kyoto's diverse ceramic tradition — named for the Kiyomizu area of eastern Kyoto where kilns have operated since the early Edo period.
Light, strong everyday objects made by layering washi over a base of paper, bamboo or wood and coating them with persimmon tannin (kakishibu) or urushi lacquer.
Kyō-Busshi (京仏師) is the Buddhist sculptural tradition of Kyoto — producing wooden Buddha images in two historic construction methods: ichiboku-zukuri (一木造 — single-block carving, dominant in early period) and yosegi-zukuri (寄木造 —…
Nishijin-ori (西陣織) is Japan's supreme silk weaving tradition — centered in the Nishijin district of Kyoto and producing the obi sash and kimono fabric for court, theatrical, and ceremonial use for over 1,200 years.
Two textiles made from washi in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture.
The making of hand-painted tin-glazed ceramic tiles (azulejos) in the Portuguese tradition — the most extensive architectural tile tradition in the world, covering the facades; interiors; and public spaces of Portugal from the 15th century…
The hand-modeling and painting of small terracotta figurines (bonecos) in Estremoz (Alentejo) — a folk art tradition, recognized by UNESCO ICH in 2017, depicting genre scenes of Alentejo rural and religious life: nativity scenes…
The hand-forming and glazing of pottery and ceramics in Kuwait, a craft with deep historical roots documented through archaeological research at the al-Qusur monastery site on Failaka Island, excavated by the French-Kuwaiti Archaeological…
The wheel-shaping, glazing, and hand-painting of ceramic bowls, tiles, plates, vases, cups, trays, and lamps in Hebron, blending Islamic geometric motifs, floral patterns, and calligraphy into vibrant designs in signature shades of…
The hand-molding, wood-firing, and mineral-paint decoration of ceramic vessels and, most distinctively, miniature churches placed on rooftops to ward off evil spirits — a tradition centered in Quinua, a town near Ayacucho in Peru's central…
A supplement record documenting the preparation of Schmaltblau — the specific Meissen cobalt underglaze formulation used for the Zwiebelmuster and other Meissen blue painting traditions (CRAFT-1170).