Dare I Ask ...

Am wondering ... what about Japanese pottery? It resonates faintly with my childhood years (60s). I'm seeing quite a lot in the thrift stores, and it usually catches my eye because of the glazing or the design (usually just marked "Japan"). I recently found a cool boomerang ashtray made in Japan. Any insight from the experts would be appreciated!

Hiya Koobideh - very good point! I'll move your post to our Pottery Discussion section where it will get more exposure and debate.

very difficult to date though

I'm happy to see 20th century Japanese design of course, feel free to put it up for ID with photos in the ID My Pottery section. I don't think there's enough call for us to create a separate Japanese section however.

Generally speaking I assume Japanese pottery has probably been around for a very long time, but regarding the stuff that I'm seeing -- was it mass produced for the West mainly in the 50s and 60s?

Sure! Japanese potteries have been in operation for centuries but we only focus on 20th century production obviously. With regard to info, you're going to need to show us some photographs of exactly what items you're referring to please...