Wender·Vista
Yonaguni
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileJapan
the westernmost island of Japan, closer to Taiwan than to Okinawa

Yonaguni

— — the last island before the map turns to water.

— 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

“The westernmost speck of Japan, closer to the lights of Taiwan than to Naha. Sugarcane on the windward slopes, native horses grazing where the road ends at Cape Irizaki. Off the south coast, divers winter here for the hammerheads, and for the strange stepped sandstone the locals found in 1986, eighty feet down.

from the studio
Yonaguni
— bring it home

Yonaguni, 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 Yonaguni

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

Yonaguni is the westernmost inhabited island of Japan, in Okinawa Prefecture, about 108 km from the east coast of Taiwan and 509 km west of Okinawa's main island. The island covers roughly 29 square kilometres and is home to about 1,700 people across three villages: Sonai, Kubura, and Higawa. Cape Irizaki marks the westernmost point of Japanese territory. The island is reached by a forty-minute flight from Ishigaki or a four-hour ferry. Sugarcane and the small native Yonaguni horse define the inland landscape; the coast is broken cliff and reef.

— informed by Wikipedia: Yonaguni
— the water

In the winter months, from late December through February, schools of hammerhead sharks gather off the southern cape, one of the few reliable hammerhead aggregations in the world, drawing divers from across Asia. The bigger draw for some is the Yonaguni Monument, a stepped sandstone formation found in 1986 by local dive guide Kihachirō Aratake about 25 metres below the surface. Whether the right-angle terraces are natural fracture or human-cut remains contested among geologists and archaeologists. The water is warmest in summer; the visibility holds best when the trade wind drops.

— the visit

Yonaguni Airport (OGN) takes daily flights from Ishigaki on Japan Transocean Air; the Fukuyama Kaiun ferry runs from Ishigaki twice weekly when weather allows, a four-hour crossing the locals call rough even by Okinawan standards. There is one town with a handful of small inns, a handful of awamori distilleries, and a scattering of seafood restaurants serving Yonaguni's famous kajiki marlin. Cape Irizaki holds a small lighthouse and a marker for the westernmost point of Japan; on clear days the mountains of Taiwan show on the horizon at sunset.

— where
Japan · Yonaguni, Yaeyama District, Okinawa
— position
24.4667° N · 123.0083° 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.
127 km E
Ishigaki
island
150 km E
Iriomote
island
N
Yonaguni
Ishigaki
Iriomote
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Yonaguni is the westernmost inhabited island of Japan, in Okinawa Prefecture, roughly 108 km east of Taiwan and 509 km west of the Okinawan mainland. It is reached from Ishigaki by air or ferry.

A stepped sandstone formation about 25 metres below the surface off the south coast, found in 1986 by local divemaster Kihachirō Aratake. Whether the terraces are natural or carved is still debated.

Schools of scalloped hammerheads aggregate off Cape Irizaki from late December through February. The cold-season currents draw them in; visibility holds best when the northeast trade wind eases.

About 1,700 residents across three villages: Sonai on the north coast, Kubura on the west, and Higawa on the south. Sugarcane farming and a small fishing fleet are the main livelihoods.

The native Yonaguni horse, a small breed of about 120 cm at the shoulder, roams semi-free across the eastern grasslands near Cape Agarizaki. Around a hundred remain, all owned by local breeders.

Yes. About 108 km from Taiwan's east coast and 509 km from Okinawa's main island. On clear winter evenings Taiwan's central mountain range is visible from Cape Irizaki at sunset.

— about the piece in your home

Yonaguni is a tender choice for anyone who knows the Yaeyama Islands. It sits at the edge of Japan in a way mainland-Okinawa pieces don't capture. A Small with a studio note carries well.

The deep blues and weathered coral tones sit naturally in coastal-modern, Japandi, and quiet biophilic rooms. The piece reads as ocean rather than as tourist postcard, which lets it hold a wall without dominating it.

Yes. The restrained palette and the framing of water and bare cliff line up cleanly with Japandi's emphasis on natural texture and negative space. A Medium above a low oak credenza is a common pairing.

A single Large reads well above a console or narrow sideboard. Above a full sofa, a four-tile Mural gives the wall enough mass; a nine-tile Mural is the choice when the wall is the room's focal point.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and stand up to humidity and splash, which makes them right for showers, backsplashes, and powder rooms. Glossy is for dry walls.

A soft microfibre cloth, dry or barely damp with water. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The colour lives inside the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective layer, so the piece cleans like a tile.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated and signed off by Reid Wender at the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. We do not license imagery in or out; each place enters the atlas by his hand.

— if this one stayed with you

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