What are the marks for Japanese pottery?

Personal artist signatures are most common on Japanese pottery. However, marks may also include "Made in Japan," "Nippon," "Good Luck," "Japan" or "Happiness."

Marks on Japanese pottery may vary from piece to piece in a set and they tend to be commercially oriented. Marks may indicate the potter, the pattern, the exporter, the decorator, the customer or the importer. In some cases, both the importer and exporter are present in the mark. It is common to use many marks and the Noritake company used more than 400 marks on their pottery in the 100 years that they have been in business.