When disaster strikes, there are always opportunists waiting in the wings: companies who try to get you to buy more stuff because they’re donating some puny percentage of sales to relief efforts. I’m always left thinking: nice try, but I’d rather have all of the money go to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.   

That’s how Handmade for Japan is different. Organized the day after the earthquake and tsunami by potter Ayumi Horie, Kathryn Pombriant Manzella and Ai Kanazawa, the benefit will auction donated homewares by artists who have some connection to Japan or who work in the traditional aesthetic of Japanese craft and design. Read more...