Kyushu
— — the island that still has its volcanoes turned on.
Not only on a wall.
“The third-largest of Japan's main islands, hanging off the southwest. Seven prefectures, hot-spring towns built around active steam, and an active stratovolcano named Sakurajima sitting in the bay across from Kagoshima. Aso, in the middle of the island, holds one of the largest active calderas in the world. Fukuoka anchors the north with a different rhythm — yatai food stalls along the river, ramen at midnight. The Shinkansen runs the spine; the country roads do everything else. from the studio
Kyushu, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Kyushu is the third-largest and southwesternmost of Japan's four main islands, covering about 36,782 square kilometres and home to roughly 12.6 million people across seven prefectures: Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima. It is separated from Honshu by the narrow Kanmon Strait and connected by road, rail, and the Kanmon undersea tunnels. The island sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which gives it the highest concentration of active volcanoes and hot springs in Japan, including Mount Aso and the Sakurajima stratovolcano in Kagoshima Bay.
Sakurajima erupts in small ash columns hundreds of times a year, and Kagoshima residents sweep volcanic ash off their cars the way other cities sweep snow. Mount Aso, in central Kumamoto Prefecture, sits inside one of the world's largest active calderas — about 25 kilometres north to south. Beppu, on the east coast of Oita, draws steam from the ground at more than 2,500 vents and discharges among the highest volumes of hot-spring water of any town on earth. The air on the island is shaped by that geology: sulphur on the wind near the onsens, sea-salt closer to the coasts.
The Kyushu Shinkansen has run the full Hakata-to-Kagoshima spine since March 2011, with a typical end-to-end time near 1 hour 20 minutes on the fastest Mizuho service. Fukuoka City, in the north, anchors the island and is well known for the riverside yatai food stalls and tonkotsu ramen that originated in the Hakata district. Nagasaki, on the west coast, was the only Japanese port open to Dutch and Chinese traders during the Edo period and shows that history in its churches, terraced harbour, and the small Dejima island. Late March through May and October into November are the easier travel windows.