Ushinoto-yaki Somewake Plate: Tottori Mingei Folk Pottery [2026]

Ushinoto-yaki (牛ノ戸焼, “Ushinoto ware”) is a folk pottery from the outskirts of Tottori City, on the Sea of Japan coast of western Japan. Its most recognizable object is a flat round stoneware plate finished in somewake (染め分け) — a “divided glaze” that splits a single dish into a copper-green field and a band of black or amber iron glaze. The effect is graphic and instantly legible, and it has made Ushinoto-yaki one of the most identifiable folk wares in the San’in region.

What gives the kiln its standing is not age alone but rescue. Ushinoto-yaki was founded around the Genroku era in the late 1600s to supply everyday glazed crockery, then nearly died out during the industrial shift of the Meiji and Taisho periods. It was pulled back from the edge in the early Showa years by the local Tottori folk-craft (mingei) movement — the same network of collectors and potters that connected the kiln to national figures such as Yanagi Soetsu, Hamada Shoji, and the British potter Bernard Leach. The somewake plate is the form that came out of that revival.

This guide is written from a Japan-based editor’s desk for international readers who want an authentic Ushinoto-yaki plate and need to know where to buy it, what the divided glaze actually is, and how it sits alongside the other San’in and Kyushu folk wares we have covered. Note up front: the underlying product data for this piece was thin at the time of writing — only the Amazon JP Global Store listing reference (ASIN B0GWNBYDYH) was available, and live pricing was not captured. We flag every place that depends on that caveat.

Who this is for — and who should skip it

Product overview (from published specs)

The available source data for this piece was limited. The table below combines the listing reference (ASIN B0GWNBYDYH) with the descriptive specification supplied for the article. Where a value was not present in the data, it is marked rather than guessed.

Data note: only the Amazon JP Global Store listing reference was available for this piece; live pricing and exact dimensions may have shifted, and the figures above are the descriptive specification rather than a confirmed live spec sheet. Always confirm at the listing before buying.

📍 Where this comes from — place, era, and the craft tradition

Tottori Tottori · Chūgoku

Tottori is the least-populous of Japan’s 47 prefectures and faces the Sea of Japan along the northern edge of the Chugoku region. Together with neighboring Shimane, it forms the San’in — literally the “shaded side” of the mountains — a coast known for snowfall, fishing ports, and the Tottori sand dunes. Ushinoto-yaki grew up just outside Tottori City, the castle town governed in the Edo period by the Ikeda clan, where a local kiln could rely on regional clay and a steady demand for everyday glazed crockery across the San’in.

The kiln was founded around the Genroku era — the cultural high point of the late 1600s — to make practical, glazed stoneware for ordinary households: plates, bowls, pots, and storage jars. For roughly two centuries it did exactly that, an anonymous country kiln serving its region.

Then it almost disappeared. The industrial transformation of the Meiji (1868–1912) and Taisho (1912–1926) periods flooded Japan with cheap factory ceramics, and many small rural kilns went dark. Ushinoto-yaki was nearly one of them.

The rescue came from the folk-craft movement. Yanagi Soetsu and his circle had begun, in the 1920s, to argue that the anonymous, useful pottery of country kilns held a beauty that factory goods could not match. In Tottori, that idea found a local champion in Yoshida Shoya, a physician and collector who opened the Takumi craft shop in 1932 and worked to keep Ushinoto-yaki firing. Through that network the kiln became connected to the leading figures of the movement — Yanagi himself, the potter Hamada Shoji, and the English potter Bernard Leach, whose work bridged Japanese and Western studio ceramics.

Out of that revival came the object the kiln is now known for. The somewake divided glaze — one piece split between a copper-green field and a band of black or amber iron glaze — turned a humble plate into something graphic and unmistakable.

“A country kiln that nearly went dark in the industrial age, and instead became the most recognizable folk plate on the Sea of Japan coast.”

Today Ushinoto-yaki ties Tottori into the wider San’in and Chugoku folk-pottery story — alongside Shimane’s Fujina-yaki to the west, and in the same mingei lineage as Onta and Koishiwara wares in Kyushu. The flat round plate remains its most iconic form, distinct from the yunomi and mug shapes that other folk kilns are better known for, and it is the piece most worth seeking out first.

📦 Shipping & where to buy from outside Japan

The specific plate referenced here is sourced through the Amazon JP Global Store (ASIN B0GWNBYDYH), which ships many household items internationally to most major destinations. Based on the listing reference, this is the most direct path for an overseas buyer; for US shoppers, the Amazon.com search route (below) is the easier first stop for comparable Japanese tableware.

• Amazon JP Global Store: ships internationally; international shipping to the US/EU typically runs in the $15–$40 range for a single ceramic item, plus any import handling. Confirm the destination and quoted shipping at checkout.
• Customs duties: orders above your country’s de minimis threshold may incur import duty or VAT/GST on arrival. Ceramics are generally low-rate, but check your local threshold.
• Proxy services (Buyee / Tenso): if a particular form is sold only on a domestic Japanese site, a forwarding/proxy service can consolidate and reship it. Expect an added service fee.
• Fragility: this is glazed stoneware. Make sure the seller packs ceramics for international transit; reputable Global Store sellers usually do.

Prices in USD throughout this article are approximate and depend on the current exchange rate (¥150/USD baseline as of mid-2026). The JPY listing price is the authoritative figure.

Price snapshot across stores

Live pricing for this specific plate was not captured in the source data, so the JPY/USD cells below are marked rather than guessed. Verify the current figure at the listing before ordering.

What it does well

Weaknesses and things to verify before buying

1. Thin product data. Only the Global Store listing reference was available here; exact dimensions, weight, and price were not captured. Confirm all of these on the live listing before ordering.
2. No confirmed live price. The figure was not in the source data, so budget cannot be set from this article alone — check the listing.
3. Piece-to-piece variation. Folk glazes are not uniform; the exact green/black balance, pooling, and edges will differ from any photo. That is intrinsic to mingei, not a defect — but it is not for buyers who want identical sets.
4. Fragility in transit. Glazed stoneware can chip or crack if poorly packed. Confirm the seller packs ceramics for international shipping.
5. Shipping cost and customs. A single plate can carry $15–$40 international shipping plus possible duty above your local threshold, which can rival the item price.
6. Care assumptions. Microwave and dishwasher suitability were not stated in the source data. Treat as hand-wash unless the listing confirms otherwise.

Conclusion — which buyer type are you?

Other ways to approach this purchase

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jpmono.com is curated by a Japan-based editorial team (working out of Toyama in the Hokuriku region and Nara in Kansai) and is independent. We do not take payment from the makers we feature; income comes from affiliate links. We do not physically test every product — we read maker’s specs and source listings. Read more about our editorial standards.

🤖 This article was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed against the available source data. Where listing data was thin, we have said so plainly rather than filling gaps with assumptions. Verify current price, dimensions, and shipping at the retailer before purchasing.

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