to purple-black tapayan from the island of Luzon in the northern Philippines. These were highly sought after by Japanese traders in the 16th century Nanban trade and remain as valuable antique heirlooms in modern Japan. They are primarily used for the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu). They were prized for their simplicity and rough, often uneven design, epitomizing the traditional Japanese aesthetics of wabi-sabi ("perfection in imperfection"). The Tokiko calls the Rusun and Namban jars, Ru-sun tsukuru or Lu-sung ch'i (in Chinese), which simply means "made in Luzon." These Rusun jars, which had rokuru (wheel mark), were said to be more precious than gold because of its ability to act as tea canisters and enhance the fermentation. In the 15th century AD, tea-jars were brought by the shōguns to Uji in Kyoto from the Philippines which was used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The Spanish historian Antonio de Morga in his Sucesos de la Islas Filipinas (1609) described Rusun jars as thus: Rusun jars were part of what is collectively known as Mishima ("three islands") ware. With the other two islands being indigenous Taiwan and the unidentified "Amakawa". Many of the important pottery traditions that spread into the Oceania region had their counterparts in the Philippines including the well-known Lapita culture. This quote from American anthropologist Wilhelm Solheim illustrates the matter: The finds at Ayub Cave in South Cotabato confirmed the great pottery tradition of the Philippines. In the Tokiko it mentions that all Rusun jars had this marking known as the rokuru (wheel mark). Those familiar with Philippine ethnography will know that this spiral is commonly used by many of the Philippine tribes. The following symbols were used to identify which kiln was used to make the jar: identified "Imbe" jars, meant jars coming from Bizen kiln, and mark three times meant a canister from the same oven. A jar with this mark is said to be made of Namban clay. This marking corresponds to the syllable la in Pampanga; Tagbanua for ka ("Chinese Pottery," Field Museum of Natural History-Anth., vol.xii, Jul.1912) Of course, the symbol for la can also be the same as that for lu, and so this might correspond to the symbol said to stand for Lu in Rusun-no kokuji (Luzon national writing). According to the Tokiko, certain types of Rusun jars were distinguished by this character. De Morga mentions that Japanese traders were still coming in