HYPER JAPAN 2012 Spring

Doki, located in Pacific Plaza in Wembley, London, showcased and sold a selection of ceramics and pottery imported directly from Japan at HYPER JAPAN London 2010. Doki is written as 土器 in Japanese kanji characters, and means earthenware. It is the term used to describe ancient Japanese earthenware, and Doki today provides people living in the UK with the opportunity to buy authentic, beautiful Japanese ceramics, cookware, glassware, lacquerware and more. Doki’s range of products is the most extensive in Europe, and the next best thing to going crockery shopping in Tokyo!

In Japan, almost as much care goes into the presentation of cuisine as the preparation. A traditional kaiseki Japanese chef will be as strict in choosing the dish in or plate on which to serve each dish as he will be in selecting the seasonal ingredients with which to make it. All Japanese food, but particularly kaiseki, focuses on engaging all five senses (gokan), using the five flavours (gomi), and the five colours (goshiki: red, black, white, blue, yellow), too. And so the arrangement and the presentation of the food are integral to creating and maintaining this balance between flavours, senses and colours. Ceramics decorated with seasonal motifs, such as birds or flowers, are particularly useful in evoking the season. This importance of tableware in food helps to explain why the ceramics industry is so thriving in Japan today.

But you don’t have to be working in a highly ritualised culinary environment to have fun with your tableware. Doki products come in a wonderful variety of patterns, shapes and colours, so as you build up a collection you can mix and match with the season, the food, the weather or the flowers arranged on your table. Unlike the UK, where its normally the done thing to serve food on matching tableware, Japanese people are less concerned with an overall matching system, and focus more on the beauty of each individual piece. Many visitors came to find the right rice bowl or the perfect tea cup. Also particularly popular was the maneki neko, or "beckoning cat", a cat character seen throughout Japan that is also known as the Money Cat, Lucky Cat or Fortune Cat. It's supposed to bring businesses luck by encouraging customers in.

Doki fans visited the stall over all three days, sometimes repeatedly, to stock up on their beautiful ceramincs which are imported directed from Gifu prefecture in Japan. The stall had a selection of products normally available at the Wembley store include: plates, bowls, teapots and cups, lacquerware, ornaments, screens, fans and kitchen tools including graters, mortars, sushi rolling mats and tea strainers. The Pacific Plaza is located in Wembley Retail Park, Engineers Way, Wembley HA9 0EG. They can also be found every week at Camden Market so you can head there to pick up characterful, authentic dining ware there, too!

Doki, or Jomondoki, dates back to 14,000 BCE, when the Jomon period began in Japan. This pottery is internationally unique; jomon itself means ‘rope patterns’ and this early pottery was decorated with markings made by pressing ropes into the clay. Pottery making became more sophisticated throughout the Jomon period, with later pieces reaching quite stunning levels of artistic expression and complexity. Ceramics continues to develop in Japan over the centuries, with various regions developing core centres of production with distinct styles; these include Mino-Seto, Arita-Karatsu, Kiyomizu-Shigaraki, and Kutani-Mashiko. In keeping with its long tradition of absorbing and adapting the traditions and practises of other countries and cultures, modern Japanese ceramics has embraced Western artistic influence, creating bold and innovative pieces that are as admired as art as they are as functional vessels. Indeed, ceramic sculpture thrives in Japan, and this high level of artistry is supported by a strong community of artisan ceramicists and potters.