About The Many Faces of Japan

Our Service Pledge

We promise we will always be honest about our services and items in our store. We do know how to say, "I don't know", but will try to find the answer to your question if we don't. We stand behind our policies and products. As such, please remember that all of our items are used, vintage or antique. There will almost always be some type of age wear to the items we sell although some may not be obvious. We are referring to those visible to the naked eye here. We will always identify any major flaws including cracks and repairs. Most chips are usually insignificant as we do highly collectable and the chips are usually on the inside rim of the lid or bottom, we do not usually purchase these. If you notice that I, Sharon have made an error in posting a specific item or have overlooked something, we would really appreciate you letting us know.

About Us

About us is below, Announcements are first!

Contacting us: The best contact method is to use the email envelope on the top of this page or on any item page as it texts my phone.

Red Tag Sale: It usually takes 1-3 days to get orders out, if we are busy during the sale it could take up to a week days to process. Please understand the shipping discounts we have been offering will not be offered during the Red Tag Sale! So sorry we missed it this time, but send us a message from any item page, and make an offer vi email! You never know!

Insurance, Antique Safety, and Returns
Please see 'Terms of Sale' on any item page for information regarding returns and layaway.

Stands: Stands seen in the pictures are not included with the item unless otherwise stated. They are for display only. Thanks for understanding!

Note: All of our items are Covid19 safe and cleared. Why? Because we were both been tested for Covid19 in April and are negative. I have left the house twice since March to go to one of my Dr's offices who also are very very careful about not having more than one patient in the waiting room at a time and I always get put in a room that has not been used that day. We both practice 100% of CDC required or recommended top 3 guidelines, masking, social distancing, and handwashing and_or using sanitizer, However, because of my healthcare background and because of the population Brent works around, we have both always been very conscious of these type practices. We have always washed our hands before packing and sprayed all of our packing items with Lysol. We lightly "air spray" around items before they are packed. Please let us know if you have any questions! None of Sharon's health issues are contagious.

Caring for your special wares

Porcelain and Japanese pottery, lacquerware, metals, everything. Items purchased here are vintage and antique and the majority require special care. Chemicals should never be used on any of them. Please consult books, websites and other resources for information on proper care of different types of antiques and vintage items. Even certain Japanese potteries require special preparation such as pottery that requires prep before using to prevent staining. We will never claim an item is something it is not unless it has been properly tested or researched. Please remember that all items are antique or vintage and as such will have some type of wear, please see the pictures.

Thank you for your feedback! We Love your emails and would appreciate it if you would take the time to complete the Store Feedback process which was just recently put into place, this can be found on the specific related Purchase Orders. We really appreciate you taking the time to do this. Please see our reviews from many happy customers and those who have taken the time to do this, it is a newer process for Ruby Lane and everyone is not familiar.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all of those affected by the senseless tragedies and the way too much violence in here the U.S. and all over the world. We are thinking you and victims of climate change all over the world. Knowing that the hours are still very young and much of the senselessness will never be over, we strongly wish and our hopes are that people are getting what they need to rebuild and relive from loss and grief.

About our Family

The Idea to open a store started in the fall of 2013, after years of struggling with the job market for both of us after 30 years in healthcare and the construction business. We have taken turns with our careers and building and managing our collection, and servicing our customers.

History and information: Sharon had the fortunate experience of growing up in Japan and the opportunity to experience and learn about the Japanese culture and arts, I have spent time since over the years growing this through working in our store. We do not claim to be experts but try to learn as much as possible from articles, blogs, books, and people. We have had the opportunity to meet and learn from some wonderful people from all over the world whom we acknowledge in our posts, many who are well-known experts in the industry with a passion for Asian antiques. We try to collect as much information as possible and pass this on to our customers. We are often told by customers they did not even realize they 'like Japanese stuff' as one customer told me. Regardless this often results in my long posts and I cannot apologize for this, it is just the way I am as I try to share and explain every aspect of any given item. I no longer speak, read, or write Japanese, and have had help from those that do or translation websites for our kanji, in addition to the actual maker's site in Japan. Please also see our 'Favorites' Links on our homepage, for links to great websites of artists, makers, and these experts. If a site has been removed it may have moved, please feel free to ask for it.

Thanks to our customers we have achieved Platinum store status. We often place in the 'Top 5 to Top 10' Stores in the ‘Porcelain and Pottery’ category of 'Top 50 Viewed' stores. This can be found on any Ruby Lane page by using the drop-down box 'RELAX' under 'Shop, Sell and Relax' at the top left of any Ruby Lane page and the 'Top 50’ categories.

Coming to you from Austin, Texas, please visit our growing online family store of over 700 Japanese antique, vintage and contemporary items. Our goal to collect and share as much as possible about the different wares and all that Japanese art and yakimono has to offer. We do have our favorites, I cannot lie and want to make sure we always have our customers as well! We have items from over 100 Japanese artists and makers including Master and famous potters and National Living treasures. If you subscribe to our store, you will receive updates for new or changed items in our inventory and other important announcements at a frequency of your choice. This is our only online location at this time.

Thank you so much for visiting our store! Please feel free to contact us with your questions by using the email or phone number listed at the top of any store page under the icons, email is the best way to quickly get our attention as it pages Sharon's phone!

Most sincerely,
Brent, Sharon. and Adriane

The Meredith Family
Austin, Texas, U.S.

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