About us

TOKOBO means 'a pottery studio' in Japanese. 

TOKOBO is a cozy pottery studio located near Broadway Market in East London, offering workshops and studio access.

Our classes for beginners and intermediate potters cover a wide range of techniques in hand-building and throwing on the potter’s wheel. We also teach specialised Japanese techniques such as Nerikomi, Kurinuki and the genuine Kintsugi (Japanese repair technique using natural lacquer: urushi and gold).

TOKOBO was founded by Japanese ceramicist mizuyo yamashita aiming to create a space where passion, knowledge, and fun experiences can be shared through working with clay.

Pottery as an art form, offers a calm, therapeutic, and enjoyable activity filled with tactile sensations. The disciplined approach integral to pottery as a craft brings us a profound sense of achievement. There is immense joy in making a simple piece of pottery or object or just centring a chunk of clay on the wheel. We value both the creative and disciplined approaches.

Situated on the 7th floor of an industrial building, our studio boasts stunning views of London. With ample natural light in the summer and cozy warmth in the winter, our studio space guarantees a comfortable setting for your artistic journey.

Mizuyo has a background in interior design in Japan. Her approach is grounded in the ergonomic approach and aesthetics she cultivated during that time and in the craftsmanship she learned from working alongside Japanese artisans.

About mizuyo yamashita: mizuyo 

About other teachers at TOKOBO: Nicoletta Savvidou

 
 
Last week's glaze firing brought forth some lovely pottery, each piece with its own charm. It's been nice to see their ideas taking shape and a few technical issues resolved along the way. That said, there were a couple of mishaps with some pieces,
The studio has been updated with a few items from Japan that we hope will enhance your studio time.😉: Sponge Pad: Use this to clean the bottom of your pots. Ensure there's a bit of water in the tray for it to work. Karuishi: This very porous stone
With only a few days left in Japan, Kyoto was the last destination. As you might have heard in the news, the city is bustling with tourists. It's no surprise, given the myriad of places to visit, beautiful things to see and delicious food to try. Kyo
This past weekend was the Matsumoto Craft Fair, widely regarded as the finest craft fair in Japan. It takes place on the fourth weekend of May, this year was its 40th anniversary. We have the opportunity to meet and purchase exquisite pieces directly
If you're looking to find your own style, try to explore different techniques. Have you tried adding designs and drawings using underglazes? We have two kinds of underglazes available at the studio: underglaze paint and underglaze pastels. (We also
This weekend, I visited another pottery festival featuring our regional pottery, Banko-yaki. This pottery is known for its unique fine purple-brown clay teapots and also cooking pots that can be used directly over a flame. Although this festival was
Hi, this is Mizuyo checking in from Japan. I'm enjoying the warmer and sunnier climate here, although some days are surprisingly chilly. We've had a big holiday season 'Golden Week' spanning from April 28th to (usually) May 5th. Some manage to have
We’re happy to announce our first master class happening this summer. During the two-day workshop you’ll learn how to make a Japanese teapot, Kyusu, guided by our guest teacher, Ido Ferber. Ido is Israeli born potter and woodworker and
At the moment, we’re trying to use the mix reclaimed clay and odd bags of stoneware clays to free up space for accommodating a new batch of white clay. If you’ve mainly been using white clay, we understand this might be a change for you.
We recently had a bisque firing and topped up most of our glazes. Have a look on the bisque shelf and see if your piece is ready. Have fun glazing! You may also see a new bucket of glaze: White Chun. We need to test it to make sure it is the same gl