With the Meiji Restoration, Japan became a modern nation and needed to accumulate foreign currency in order to procure goods from Europe and the United States. This led to the development of export industries, and raw silk and ceramics were exported to Europe and the United States during the Meiji period.
This trend continued in Tokoname, and in 1894, an organization called Tokoname Trading Co. Its predecessor was the Ryuko-gumi (from 1887 to 1896), an organization formed by Tokoname potters. The Ryuko-gumi Tokoname Trading Co., Ltd. actively produced and exported to the North American continent what was called “Shudei Ryu-maki, dragon scrolls made of vermillion mud”
Large jars, cylinders, and flower vases were made from vermilion clay, which was produced at the end of the Edo period as a material for kyusu (teapots), and relief decorations of dragons made from plaster molds were pasted on their surfaces, known as ” Ryu-maki”.
