Yasuna Restaurant
Owned by antiques dealer and collector Nishiyama Yasuhiro, Yasuna serves kaiseki meals on authentic Arita ware. Pieces used in the table settings include Ko-Imari (Old Imari) ware produced during the early Edo period (1603–1867), pieces designed by twentieth-century artists, and works made by modern Living National Treasures. Next door is a private showroom and event space called Zui. The showroom’s selection of porcelain pieces is personally curated by Nishiyama, and all are available to purchase. A second building on the property is full of antique Arita ware for sale, including plates, blue-and-white teacups, and sake bottles, cups, and other pieces.
Most of the Arita ware on display at Yasuna date from about 1850 to now. According to Nishiyama, the one hundred years beginning in the 1860s represents the best period of Arita ware. In his opinion, the creativity and skill of the artists at that time are unsurpassable. Guided by the owner, visitors can view tableware and decorative objects produced by generations of masters of Arita’s major kilns. Many of the pieces on display cannot be found anywhere else, since kilns in Arita traditionally sell only pieces designed by the current head of the kiln.
The restaurant’s building is styled after buildings from the Joseon period (1392－1897) in Korea, in honor of the Korean potter known as Kanagae Sambe’e (d. 1655), remembered as the father of Arita ware.
