Pottery vase with unusual glaze - Asian?

I saw this at the thrift this morning. The glaze was very unusual - semi-gloss, very thick and textured / bumpy. My first thought was that I remembered similar pieces IDed here as Belgian, but now that I look at the pic a little more I think the signature might be an Asian character.

I was just curious, having never seen this type of glaze before. Can anyone point me in a direction to research a little further? Thanks - Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

Oh wait - is that the Japanese Yen currency symbol?

 

Looks to me like salt glaze... what's called an orange peel texture. I've heard that, at some point in the firing, the kiln is opened and a handful of rock salt tossed in.

 

Thanks for the tip. That sounds ... dangerous. But you can't argue with good results, I suppose.

 

If it's a Yen symbol, they were robbing the customers paying in USD by a whopping couple of bucks! lol The $4 does look to be added with a different marking implement...maybe later...inflation.

 

You're correct - the $4 marking is from the thrift store. Nearly double the yen price, though.