Misao Yajima 矢島操

Misao Yajima is a Kyoto-born ceramic artist whose work blends traditional pottery techniques with deeply personal storytelling. After graduating from art school with a ceramics focus, she began shaping clay and decorating porcelain with motifs drawn from her memories, travels, and the natural world.

Her pieces — from plates to cups - often feature delicate hand-painted motifs: birds or deer in flight, floral patterns that echo fabric or folk textile designs, or subtle carved and painted details reminiscent of woodblock prints. Her use of diverse techniques - color-painted decoration (iroe), underglaze painting, and carved-relief ("kakiotoshi") - allows her to express rich textures and layered visuals while keeping each piece functional.

Every work by Yajima is handmade and unique - variations in glaze, brushwork, or small irregularities not only testify to the handcraft process, but also give each object its own character and soul. She often describes life and everyday observation as her inspiration: a journey of small moments, everyday encounters, and memories that find form in clay and glaze.

Using a Yajima piece - whether a plate with subtle deer walking across it, or a cup painted with birds mid-flight - is like carrying a little story to your table. Her ceramics invite you to slow down, savor simplicity, and feel connected to the soft rhythms of life, memory, and nature.

Misao Yajima is a Kyoto-born ceramic artist whose work blends traditional pottery techniques with deeply personal storytelling. After graduating from art school with a ceramics focus, she began shaping clay and decorating porcelain with motifs drawn from her memories, travels, and the natural world.

Her pieces — from plates to cups - often feature delicate hand-painted motifs: birds or deer in flight, floral patterns that echo fabric or folk textile designs, or subtle carved and painted details reminiscent of woodblock prints. Her use of diverse techniques - color-painted decoration (iroe), underglaze painting, and carved-relief ("kakiotoshi") - allows her to express rich textures and layered visuals while keeping each piece functional.

Every work by Yajima is handmade and unique - variations in glaze, brushwork, or small irregularities not only testify to the handcraft process, but also give each object its own character and soul. She often describes life and everyday observation as her inspiration: a journey of small moments, everyday encounters, and memories that find form in clay and glaze.

Using a Yajima piece - whether a plate with subtle deer walking across it, or a cup painted with birds mid-flight - is like carrying a little story to your table. Her ceramics invite you to slow down, savor simplicity, and feel connected to the soft rhythms of life, memory, and nature.