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 time 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 try our best to identify any major flaws. 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!

Thank you for your patience during this time, while Brent is handling all thd orders with Sharon out ill. We truly appreciate your understanding during what has been a difficult few months and hope to soon be working back to our normal selves! I have over 100 new items to photo and post. If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to call or message me through the store using the message icon that looks like an envelope at the top of the main page or in the right column of any item page. Brent has been doing everything including his regular job, and other delays are due to Sharon needing to step in and locate items to ship. We wish you to be aware depending on the schedule we have found sometimes it may take 10-12 days tp safely pack and ship your orders, while in other cases it may ship next day, depending on Brents schedule and my treatment. Please Feel free to call me should you wish to know when available, an approximate ship date; or for any other questions! The best contact method is to use the email envelope and the top of this poge or on any item paqe.

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Combined Shipping, International Discount
Make sure to see all the info about Shipping on item pages and see the Terms of Sale on any item page. Combined shipping rules please make sure to choose the same type shipping for all items. Use Retail Ground for large heavy items. If shipping seems over calculated we will check it when packing and refund when appropriate. International shipping will have to be manually "combined" so you will need to wait to pay when packed. Specials: International shipping: 25% Off shipping of $100 USD Everyone may calculate shipping in the right column by zip code.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all of those affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the fires in California, the senseless tragedies in Las Vegas and the way too much violence in our country. I do not really watch the news so much anymore because it is so depressing but have become a recent and frequent Weather channel watcher. (they actually have some pretty interesting shows!) Knowing that the hours are still very young and much of the senselessness will not be over, we strongly wish and our hopes are that people are getting what they need to rebuild and relive from loss and grief. We are supporters of several involved organizations.

For more on Shipping & Insurance, Antique Safety, and Returns
See very Important Information under the 'Terms of Sale' link in the right column of any item page and let us know if you have any questions.

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

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. Chemical 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 and/or researched. Please remember that all items are antique or vintage and as such will have some type 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. Unfortunately. there is one negative feedback that does not even belong to our store as far as I can tell.

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, although emailing is the best way to quickly get our attention! (Phone paging is not working with our new cell carrier).

Most sincerely,
Brent, Sharon. and Adriane

The Meredith Family
Austin, Texas, U.S.

Sharon Meredith

Favorite Shop Email Shop

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Our Favorite Links Terms of Sale