Encountering European Ceramics in Edo-period Japan Ceramic production in East Asia has been historically been ahead of Europe. For this reason, when Europeans began arriving on the shores of Japan in the mid-16th century, their ceramic ware received little attention as import products from the West. Towards the end of the Edo period (mid-19th century), large quantities of European ceramics, however, began to be imported to Japan. Many of these pieces, which consisted of mass-produced pottery decorated in the copperplate printing technique, were greatly admired by the Japanese of the late Edo period. Blue and white sencha teacups with scenery; European-style blue and white sencha (green tea leaf) utensils The Netherlands, Japan