This weekend, I returned to one of my favourite spots: Shin-Maiko Beach. The nearest station is Shin-Maiko Station on the Meitetsu Line.

My hometown of Edmonton, Alberta is land locked. Being in Japan, easy access to the ocean is such a treat for me. Back home, I don’t have easy access to the ocean or beaches anywhere.

During my trips to the beach, I discovered the wonders of beach combing, and by extension- sea glass and sea pottery collecting. But, what is sea glass/sea pottery? It’s exactly as it sounds! Glass bottles, pottery, and fine porcelain end up in the oceans around the world. The ocean acts as a natural tumbler. So, by the time we find the broken pieces washed up to shore, the ocean would have softened the broken edges, and glass will have a beautiful frosted finish. 

Sea glass I found on this trip. The brown colour gives a pretty good indication that this used to be a beer bottle before.

Beach glass/beach pottery is the same concept, but it is found in freshwater environments such as lakes or rivers. After collecting, these pieces can be recycled into art such as jewelry, lamp fixtures, or even glass topped furniture. The possibilities are endless. 

Sea pottery I found on this trip. I’m not sure what these pieces used to be, but I’m fairly confident the second piece might be terracotta? 

By this point, I decided to put away my phone because I didn’t want to risk it going for a “swim”. *Laughs.*


This is my haul from this trip. It’s pretty small compared to my previous trips, but these pieces are gorgeous. Clockwise from “10:00”: a quartz rock, a possible terracotta piece with partially visible flower decoration, brown sea glass, a piece of sea pottery with a blue finish with a brown underside (pictured earlier), a tile, and a piece of porcelain. 

What I love about collecting sea glass and pottery is not just the art aspect, but the historical aspect too. Each fragment has a story. Where did it come from? How did it end up in the ocean? How far did the ocean currents carry them to where we collected them? A lot of these questions will likely remain unanswered, but we can look for clues in the pieces themselves to get some answers. 

Just kicking back and enjoying the atmosphere. 

I took some video from this trip that I hope to share with you soon. Over this last year or so, I have collected more sea glass/pottery than I know what to do with. I could potentially share some with you, or perhaps we could do a jewelry/craft workshop in the future. Just some food for thought. ♡