Wender·Vista
Okinotorishima
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileJapan
in the Philippine Sea, 1,740 kilometres south of Tokyo

Okinotorishima

— — two heads of coral above water, and a country built around them.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Japan's southernmost territory: an isolated atoll in the Philippine Sea, about 1,740 kilometres south of Tokyo and roughly the same distance from Taipei. At high tide two small rock heads break the surface, ringed by titanium collars Japan installed in the late 1980s to keep them above water. The administrative address sits in Ogasawara Village inside Tokyo Metropolis, with no permanent residents. — from the studio

from the studio
Okinotorishima
— bring it home

Okinotorishima, 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.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

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.

— about Okinotorishima

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Okinotorishima is an isolated coral atoll in the Philippine Sea, lying at roughly 20.42 degrees north and 136.08 degrees east, about 1,740 kilometres south of Tokyo and 1,070 kilometres south-east of Okinawa. The reef encloses a shallow lagoon about 4.5 kilometres across; only two natural rocks, Higashi-Kojima and Kita-Kojima, break the surface at high tide, each rising less than a metre above the water. Administratively the atoll forms part of Ogasawara Village in Tokyo Metropolis, and carries no permanent residents.

— the silence

There is no settlement here, no harbour, and no airstrip. The Japan Meteorological Agency ran an automated weather station on the atoll from 1965 until the original platform was damaged by typhoons; the current installation is a steel observation post built into the reef. A small Japan Coast Guard and research team rotates through on supply visits from the Ogasawaras and the Japanese mainland. Outside those rotations the lagoon belongs to the reef itself and to the open sea around it.

— the water

Japan considers Okinotorishima an island under Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, claiming a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone around it of roughly 400,000 square kilometres, larger than the land area of Japan itself. China and South Korea contest the claim and argue the feature is a rock and so generates only a 12-mile territorial sea. To keep the two heads above the tide, Japan encased them in titanium-netted collars and concrete rings in the late 1980s, at a reported cost of about 28.5 billion yen.

— where
Japan · Ogasawara Village, Tokyo
— elevation
1 m · 3 ft
— position
20.4253° N · 136.0810° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1100 km N
Chichijima
Ogasawara island
720 km NW
Iwo Jima
volcanic island
1300 km E
Minami-Torishima
isolated atoll
1740 km N
Tokyo
capital
N
Okinotorishima
Chichijima
Iwo Jima
Minami-Torishima
Tokyo
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Okinotorishima — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

In the Philippine Sea at roughly 20.42 degrees north and 136.08 degrees east, about 1,740 kilometres south of Tokyo and 1,070 kilometres south-east of Okinawa. It is the southernmost territory of Japan.

It is a coral atoll about 4.5 kilometres across. Only two small natural rocks, Higashi-Kojima and Kita-Kojima, break the surface at high tide, each rising less than a metre above the water.

Okinotorishima is part of Ogasawara Village in Tokyo Metropolis. There are no permanent residents; only rotating Japan Coast Guard, meteorological, and research personnel visit on supply runs.

To protect Higashi-Kojima and Kita-Kojima from typhoon erosion and keep them above the high-tide line. The titanium netting and concrete ring works were completed in the late 1980s at a reported cost of about 28.5 billion yen.

Japan treats it as an island under Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and claims a 200-nautical-mile EEZ. China and South Korea argue it is a rock that generates only a 12-mile territorial sea.

About 400,000 square kilometres — larger than the land area of Japan itself. The zone covers a long stretch of open ocean south of the Ogasawara chain and east of the northern Philippine Sea.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for readers of Pacific geography and for people who collect the corners of Japan most maps skip. A Coaster or Small with a short note from the studio carries well.

Quiet coastal walls, navigators' studies, and rooms built around blue glass and pale wood. The piece reads well in Coastal-modern, Minimalist Asian, and Japandi rooms.

Yes. Coastal walls built around specific, named places rather than generic seascapes have been gaining ground. A Medium above a desk or a Large in a hallway anchors the room cleanly.

A single Large reads from across the room. Above a wide sectional, a four-tile Mural carries the atoll and open water together; for a dedicated wall, the nine-tile Mural is the right call.

Yes. Order in Dura Satin for a soft scratch-resistant sheen or Matte for no sheen at all. Both finishes hold up in humid rooms and wipe clean with a damp microfibre.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is painted in the studio's house visual language and hand-finished in Knoxville, Tennessee. No outside licensing, no third-party prints — one studio, one eye.

— if this one stayed with you

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Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.