Yakushigama (薬師窯) is the kiln name of Chugai Toen (中外陶園), a ceramics studio based in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, a city where pottery has been made for more than a thousand years. Under this name, the studio creates what it calls modern Japanese ornaments: small ceramic pieces that carry Japan's customs of good fortune into the contemporary home.

Its collection centres on engimono, the auspicious objects Japanese families set out to welcome luck: zodiac animals for each New Year, maneki neko beckoning cats, and decorations that follow the seasonal calendar. The figures draw on the Seto novelty tradition of finely made ceramic ornaments, and many are finished in nishikisai or sometsuke nishiki, colourful painted decoration that gives each piece its bright, cheerful character.

For Yakushigama, these ornaments are a way of keeping traditions alive in everyday life. A zodiac figure marks the turning of the year; a beckoning cat by the door carries a small wish for prosperity and good company.

We love Yakushigama for the way it makes seasonal ritual easy to live with. Its pieces are small enough to tuck onto a shelf, yet each one holds a story, a quiet invitation to pause, mark the moment and set out a wish for the year ahead, wherever in the world you call home.