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The woman promoting the UK Potteries region in Japan began her work after viewing a BBC documentary on local manufacturers entering administration, a development that prompted her to launch Peak and Pottery Tours at the Spode Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. Yuri Kawakami-Shotton told the BBC that she realized Japanese visitors could help sustain the industry through purchases and museum visits. Her initiative has since drawn both in-person and virtual groups to the site, where guests often express excitement upon realizing their location in the historic pottery heartland. The tours focus on the region’s centuries-old ceramics tradition that has defined the local economy.
A 2023 pop-up event for The Rabbit Hole Tea Room in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district formed a key part of her promotion according to the BBC account. Lee Greenhalgh, owner of The Rabbit Hole, reported that daily scone sales surged from a few hundred to 2,000 during the activation. The increase demonstrated immediate commercial returns from targeted outreach to Japanese consumers interested in British afternoon tea traditions paired with Potteries-themed merchandise. Kawakami-Shotton coordinated the event to showcase authentic Stoke-on-Trent experiences abroad.
Michael Escolme, manager of the Spode Museum, described Kawakami-Shotton as a valued team member since she started bringing Japanese audiences to the venue. “She’s been a valued member of our team really, ever since bringing Japanese visitors to us both in real life and virtually to the museum,” Escolme told the BBC. The collaboration has expanded the museum’s international footprint at a time when domestic dinnerware demand has softened. Escolme noted that guests frequently react with amazement in spaces such as the Blue Room that highlight the site’s manufacturing legacy.
A May 2026 report from Stoke-on-Trent City Council found that the number of ceramics firms in North Staffordshire dropped from 137 in 2018 to 123 in 2024 even as supply chain turnover rose 35 percent over the same period. The assessment placed the broader UK ceramics industry’s annual contribution above £2 billion while supporting around 20,000 jobs nationwide. Advanced technical ceramics, sanitaryware and refractory products recorded gains in both turnover and net company worth since 2018 according to the council document. The report called for targeted support to secure the sector’s future as a driver of local employment and regional identity.
Separate government figures issued in 2022 showed Burleigh Pottery achieving 60 percent export growth to Japan in 2020, reaching £250,000 in sales under the UK’s free trade agreement with that country. The Department for International Trade has backed the firm since 2012 to access markets including Japan, the United States and Australia. Such trade links align with Kawakami-Shotton’s efforts to connect Potteries producers directly with Japanese buyers seeking heritage goods. A Grand View Research projection placed the global pottery ceramics market at $12.3 billion in 2025 with expected expansion to $17.3 billion by 2033.
Kawakami-Shotton has extended her promotional activities beyond ceramics into the adjacent Peak District, approaching publications such as the Japanese magazine RSVP to feature destinations like Buxton. The Discover Buxton website recorded her stating that the area possesses all elements necessary to appeal to Japanese travelers seeking natural and cultural sites. Her tours now incorporate both pottery and countryside elements to reposition Stoke-on-Trent and its surroundings on maps used by visitors from Japan. Japan National Tourism Organization data recorded 36.9 million foreign arrivals in 2024, indicating a recovering market that could sustain further outreach from UK regional promoters.
