Showa Retro

 Showa retro (昭和レトロ) is a phrase used in Japanese to describe ceramics, especially tableware from the mid Showa Era. The general feeling I get is that it ranges from as early as 1940's through about the late1970's.

       Unmarked, believed to be Arita

                                   Unmarked

                           Marked Kutani 九谷

                             Marked Arita 有田

                         Marked Arita 有田

                        Marked Sei 清

Yamaji

      This mark reads  Seihou Gama (正峯窯)

Wakayama or Jyakuzan (若山作)

This mark seems to pop up quite a bit on porcelain vases and plates. No one on the English sites seem to know what the mark is. It is in seal script on the porcelain pieces.  The seal script reads Wakayama, but another reading can be Jyakuzan. I have seen it labeled Arita and Mino ware. Although I have searched and searched in Japanese I cannot find a consensus there either. This should not be confused with Wakayama of "Funjina Wakayama" ware, nor of the Wakayama of "Izumo Wakayama AKA Jyakuzan" ware.

Yunomi

Yunomi 湯呑み literally means to drink warm water. It is the generic term for a Japanese handless tea cup. There are various kinds of tea cups with specific names depending on the use. Yunomi usually refers to the everyday kind of cup. It is a cynlinder shape and comes in various sizes. Sometimes they come in a set of two, one larger and one smaller. These are "couple cups" called Meoto Yunomi. 

                         This is a lovely Kutani tea cup

         This lovely Yunomi is Mashiko Yaki by Hamada Shinsaku

This is a double lined Yunomi that is a signature type of Yunomi from Fukushima called Obori Soma Yaki or just known as Soma ware in the west. 

These are Yunomi from Miyajima, the island near Hiroshima. 

         Agano Yaki Yunomi by Kozuru Gen

                Hagi Yaki Yunomi by Jyozan

        A pair of Karatsu Yunomi by 14th Nakasato Taroemon

Here is a lovely link from a showing of the many styles of Yunomi made throughout Japan:

http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/kougei/04kikaku-tenji/04img/20131019yunomi.pdf