Some of the oldest pottery in the world was discovered in Japan. It has apparently been carbon dated as 16,000 to 17,000 years old. That is much older than the ones from Mesopotamia, originally perceived to be the birthplace of pottery. It had been believed that the art of pottery came to Japan through China and this discovery cast doubt on that theory. However, more recent discoveries in China carbon dated to 17,500 to 18,500 years old may have reignited the theory.
The Japanese pottery known as Jomon (from a period of the same name that ended 200BC) comes from the North East of the Island of Kyushu. There are many different styles of Pottery across Japan and the cultural influences they exhibit are evident to those scholarly enough to study it. This includes Chinese and Korean input as well as regional differences.
Moving on to today and Japan abounds with beautiful exhibits of the modern Japanese pottery too. In many places you see some exquisite examples for sale in the shop windows as you wander by. If you want a real treat there are art galleries dotted all over Japan where you can disappear into a wonderland of breathtaking art.
You can see some of this famous pottery on our food tours of Kyushu