Guides for caring for and choosing Japanese art

Our guides answer practical questions about Japanese craftsmanship: how do you care for a chawan properly? How do you choose the right kakemono for your room? Here you'll find concrete recommendations on care, selection and handling of ceramics, painting and lacquerware. We cover the background on traditions and techniques under Knowledge.

GuidesKakemono Sets: Choosing and Hanging Pairs, Triptychs, and Seasonal SeriesTwo, three, or four hanging scrolls that belong together: how to recognize a kakemono set, how to hang it, and why it should stay together.View topic
GuidesWhy Does a Kakemono Often Bear the Signature of an Artist Long DeceasedA hanging scroll from the Meiji period, signed by a painter of the 18th century: how this comes about, and why it is no contradiction in Japan.View topic
GuidesWabi-Sabi in Interior Design: Combining Japanese Ceramics with a Modern Living StyleA rough tea bowl on an oak board, nothing beside it: why a single piece of Japanese ceramics changes a modern room more than ten.View topic
GuidesKakemono for Beginners: Which Motif Makes a Good First Collector's Piece?Landscape, flowers and birds, enso, or dragon: which group of motifs is right for a first hanging scroll – and how do you recognize a piece in good condition?View topic
GuidesIdentifying Handcrafted Japanese Ceramics: Unique Work or Mass-Produced?Turn the bowl over. The foot ring reveals in a few seconds whether a human hand shaped it or a plaster mold – if you know what to look for.View topic
GuidesHow Do I Set Up a Tokonoma in My Own Home?An alcove, a hanging scroll, three branches in a vase: the tokonoma lives from what is left out. Here is how it works even in a period apartment.View topic
GuidesCleaning Chawan: How to Properly Care for Porous Ceramics Like Hagi and Shino WareHot water is enough, dish soap causes damage: why a tea bowl made of Hagi, Shino, or Bizen ware is treated differently from any other cup.View topic
GuidesJapanese Wall Scrolls, Tea Bowls and Sake Cups – from Kakemono to GuinomiJapanese wall scroll, teacup without a handle, small sake glasses: there is a specific term for all of these. A translation aid in both directions.View topic
GuidesChawan or Yunomi: Which Tea Bowl Suits Which Occasion?Wide and open, or slender and tall? Why one bowl is made for matcha, the other for sencha – and when which shape belongs on the table.View topic
GuidesReading Signature, Seal, and Tomobako: How Do I Verify Provenance and Authenticity?A mark in the foot ring, a stamp, an inscribed wooden box: how these traces can reveal the provenance of a ceramic piece.View topic
GuidesWhich Kakemono Motif Suits Which Room and SeasonIn Japan, a hanging scroll is not displayed permanently, it is changed. Which motif goes on the wall when – and which room can bear which mood.View topic
GuidesHanging and Caring for a Kakemono – How to Properly Handle a Japanese Hanging ScrollSunlight, dry heating air, and a roll wound too tight: the three most common dangers for a hanging scroll. Here is how to hang, air out, and store a kakemono correctly.View topic
GuidesGiving Japanese Art as a Gift: Which Motif Suits Which Occasion?Two cranes for a wedding, a Daruma for a business opening: which Japanese motif suits which occasion – and where restraint is the wiser choice.View topic

Showing 13 of 13 topics