(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
In Naha’s Tsuboya District, you’ll find a street dedicated to the ancient craft of Okinawan Yachimun, or pottery in Ryukyu dialect.
Yachimun Dori runs roughly 400 meters between Kokusai Street and Route 330, cutting through Tsuboya. Tsuboya’s kanji spelling, “壺屋,” translates to “pottery shop” in Japanese.
(Map by Stripes Okinawa)
As the name suggests, this area is home to roughly 20 pottery shops and studios. The history of this street dates to 1682 when the Ryukyu Kingdom consolidated Yachimun kilns in several locations in the southern part of Makishi Village in what is now known today as the pottery district.
Ikutouen, originally Takaesu Pottery Factory until 1988, is one of the pottery shops dating back six generations, according to their website. I discovered this place after I was inspired by a social media post of L.A. Dodgers’ players Teoscar Hernández and Mookie Betts on a date night with their wives trying wheel throwing at a pottery studio somewhere in California or Arizona during spring training.
Although they seemed to have a lot of fun, Betts looked a bit distraught with a disfigured block of clay on the wheel before him. If even a pro MLB player can struggle and still try, I shouldn’t be worried about failure, I thought to myself and began searching for a class. Luckily, I found Ikutoen’s website and signed up to give pottery wheel throwing a try.
You’ll find Ikutoen’s dojo inside a traditional Okinawan flat building with a tile red roof, nestled down a back street branching off Yachimun Dori. I almost got lost going on the maze-like street, but that was part of the fun of exploring this neat area.
Though the word “dojo,” commonly associated with a place to train for martial arts, made me nervous, I was relieved when I went inside and was welcomed by relaxing Hawaiian music and nothing intimidating.
At the reception desk, I signed in for my “Rokuro” lesson, which costs 4,950 yen (about $33.22). Ikutoen also offers workshops to make pottery Shisa lions for 4,400 yen, tebineri molded plates for 3,850 and etsuke pottery drawing for 3,850 yen.
Kotone Watanabe, an employee at the dojo, helped me to get a vinyl apron and to my seat in front of the potter’s wheel. To get started, I used a foot pedal to get the electric potter’s wheel moving as I attempted to throw, or mold, the chunk of clay already set up before I sat down.
Yachimun Street (Shoji Kudaka)
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Shoji at pottery (Shoji Kudaka)
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
The first step was to make a vertical hole by pushing the clay from the top with my thumb. I was planning to make a coffee cup.
After moistening my fingers in a bowl of water, I put my thumb on the clay. The moment my fingers touched the clay, I was surprised at its firm texture.
From the pottery-making I had seen in movies and TV, I was under the impression that the clay would be malleable. The clay on my wheel felt a bit stubborn, requiring a bit of effort when I applied pressure to drill my thumb into it. From time to time, I had to soak my fingers in the water again to prevent them from rubbing against the clay too hard.
After a few minutes, my clay finally had a hole in the center, too wide for a coffee mug, however. It looked like a chunky rice bowl instead. Though I didn’t spin out like the Dodgers’ Right fielder Betts did when he was pottery throwing, I was lamenting how clumsy my work of art was looking. Watanabe advised me to wrap my hand around the turning clay to help bring in the sides. After a few turns, I was relieved because the piece was looking closer to a mug.
My next task was to carefully thin the walls of the mug by smoothing the clay between my thumbs and my other fingers.
I was advised to move my hand upwards as I maintained my pressure on the clay to keep the cup’s profile vertically to the ground. I tried to keep the angle, but the mouth of the cup started to widen in the direction of looking like a bowl again. This process was much more difficult than I imagined, and the clay went back and forth between the shape of a coffee cup and that of a rice bowl.
Once again, Watanabe stepped in, correcting the shape of the cup with a stick, which rescued me from the endless spiral.
At this point, the clay could be safely recognized as a coffee cup, but it was still a little on the chunky side. I was a bit embarrassed about the cup’s thickness, but Watanabe assured me it was supposed to look like that.
According to her, Okinawa’s red soil is a different consistency of the soil used for other clays.
“Because of that, [Yachimun pottery] would lose its shape if you made it thin,” Watanabe added. She also said the clay shrinks about 20 percent after it’s baked and dehydrated in the kiln.
Now that my cup was at the point where I was content, I detached it from the wheel with a cord. There is more work to do to complete the piece of pottery, but in this beginner’s workshop, the rest of the steps are left to the professionals.
Watanabe said the next part involves letting the pottery dry for a couple of days, gouging the bottom while the top is covered with a soil plate called a shitta. After this process is completed, then an artisan draws designs on the sides before it is left to dry some more. Next, the pottery is baked between 800-850 degrees Celsius. Finally, Watanabe said, the piece is glazed and baked in a kiln at a scorching 1550 degrees Celsius for three days.
Usually, this process would take a couple of weeks to complete, but the pottery workshops at Ikutoen mean there are many pieces in queue for completion creating a months-long backlog, Watanabe said.
Though I’ll have to wait a few more months for my mug, I can’t wait to see the finished, thinner and smoother piece I made.
Ikutoen offers shipping for workshop creations for an extra fee, depending on how many pieces of pottery and destination. For example, sending two pieces of Yachimun to a shipping address in Okinawa typically costs about 1,000 yen. International shipping (including APO) is also available but more expensive than domestic shipping.
Finished Yachimun pieces are available for purchase at the dojo, but I recommend checking out their retail shop on Yachimun Dori after class because it has a bigger selection.
Challenge yourself to wrapping your hands around this time-honored Ryukyu Kingdom craft in Naha’s Tsuboya District.
Tsuboya Yachimun Dojo (Ikutoen)
Ikutoen (retail shop)
GPS Coordinates: N 26.21251, E 127.69245
Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Closed Jan. 1-2
TOURIST SPOTS AROUND YACHIMUN STREET
Arakaki Residence
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
This building used to belong to a craftsman working in the district’s pottery industry. The Arakaki family is believed to have moved to this location when the consolidation of Yachimun pottery kilns took place in 1682. Now this traditional house with a roof tiled in red is designated as a nationally recognized cultural property.
GPS Coordinates: N 26.21255, E 127.69294
Open on Fri., Sat, Sun., and holidays *Closed during New Year holidays (Dec. 28 – Jan. 4) and some other holidays.
Hours: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Free admission
Fenukma
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Meaning the “kiln of the south,” this big noborigama kiln is thought to be the only one remaining from the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Noborigama kilns are unique because they are built on a slope. The kiln at Fenukma is no longer in operation, but it is now designated as an important prefectural property. Next door is a café and access to the kiln is via a slope leading to a parking space.
GPS Coordinates: N 26.21347, E 127.69092
Yogi Koen (Park)
Steam locomotive (Shoji Kudaka)
bridge (Shoji Kudaka)
This park is located about a 10-minute walk from the southeast end of Yachimun Dori. Its draw is a D-51 steam locomotive on display which was brought here in 1973. This park is also known for its several cherry blossom trees.
GPS Coordinates: N 26.208453, E 127.692373
No parking is available on site.
Yamaka Stand
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
This small joint is a good place to stop by if you want to take a break from your stroll on Yachimun Dori. My recommendation is the scone topped with blueberry and cream cheese (380 yen) and Indonesian Mandarin coffee (580 yen).
GPS Coordinates: N 26.214058, E 127.690623
Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. *Closed on Sun. and Mon.
