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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.

Close-up of the signature column of a Japanese kakemono with the rank Hogen, the character for painted by, and a red artist's seal on aged paper

Why Does a Kakemono Often Bear the Signature of an Artist Long Deceased

A 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.

Close-up of the wall of a Shigaraki ware tea bowl with a rough, ash-covered surface, reddish-brown fire zone, and foot ring

Wabi-Sabi in Interior Design: Combining Japanese Ceramics with a Modern Living Style

A rough tea bowl on an oak board, nothing beside it: why a single piece of Japanese ceramics changes a modern room more than ten.

Close-up of a hand-painted kakemono: two long-tailed birds on a blossoming cherry branch

Kakemono 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?

Unglazed foot ring of a Japanese Shino ware tea bowl with concentric throwing rings, tool marks, and an incised mark

Identifying 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.

Handcrafted Shigaraki ware vase with vertical fluting, mouth and shoulder against a calm dark background

How 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.

Close-up of the crackled glaze on a Japanese Hagi tea bowl with a fine, brownish-stained network of cracks

Cleaning Chawan: How to Properly Care for Porous Ceramics Like Hagi and Shino Ware

Hot 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.

Japanese tokonoma with red bonsai and calligraphy

Japanese Wall Scrolls, Tea Bowls and Sake Cups – from Kakemono to Guinomi

Japanese wall scroll, teacup without a handle, small sake glasses: there is a specific term for all of these. A translation aid in both directions.

Rim and white interior glaze of a Japanese yunomi made of Oribe ware with green glaze and relief-patterned wall

Chawan 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.

Inscribed tomobako of a Japanese tea bowl with hakogaki in ink, seal impression, and purple cord

Reading 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.

Hand-painted plum blossom branch on a Japanese hanging scroll, pink and purple blossoms with red buds on light washi paper

Which Kakemono Motif Suits Which Room and Season

In 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.

Lower rod of a Japanese kakemono with two fuchin weights made of white onyx and gold tassels

Hanging and Caring for a Kakemono – How to Properly Handle a Japanese Hanging Scroll

Sunlight, 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.

Two cranes in ink beneath a pine branch on gold-toned paper, detail of a Japanese hanging scroll

Giving 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.

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