Japanese pottery and porcelain

Takato pottery 高遠焼

Takato ware is pottery made in Ina Town (currently Ina City), Nagano Prefecture. It is said that Takato ware originated in 1812, when a kiln was established to produce clay pipes to supply water to the castle. After that, the feudal lord, Naito Yoriyasu, invited a potter from Seto called Kato Katsushiro, and the kiln was used to make oniwa ware for the Takato Domain. However, in 1877, their business declined, and they were forced to temporarily shut down in the early Showa era.The ruins of the kiln from that time are at the bottom of Takato lake. However, in (more…)

Uchiharano pottery 内原野焼

Uchiharano ware is pottery made in Aki City, Kochi Prefecture. It is said that Uchiharano ware originated around 1829, when Goto Kazue, chief retainer of the Tosa Domain, invited a potter from Kyoto to Uchiharano, which is located in the north part of Aki City, and the locals learned from him how to make pottery using good-quality clay. (more…)

Tada pottery 多田焼

Tada ware is pottery made in Mikawa Town, Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. It is said that Tada ware originated in 1700, when the feudal lord of that time invited a potter from Kyoto, and had him teach his pottery techniques to the residents of Tada, Iwakuni City. The pottery from the Iwakuni Domain kiln, which had once flourished, was restored in the Showa era, leading to the current Tada ware. (more…)

Fujina pottery 布志名焼

Fujina ware is pottery made in the Fujina area in Tamayu Town, Shimane Prefecture. It is believed that Fujina ware originated in 1750, when Funaki Yojibei Muramasa established a kiln in Fujina.Later on, in 1780, Tsuchiya Zenshiro Yoshikata (current Uzen kiln) left Rakuzan ware and moved to Fujina as a domain-appointed pottery instructor, and established the first official kiln under the orders of Matsudaira Harusato (Lord Fumai), tea master and feudal lord of the Matsue Domain.With the start of the Meiji era, the domain stopped supporting the kiln, so they had to become independent as a private kiln. They made (more…)

Obayashi pottery 尾林焼

Obayashi ware is pottery made in Obayashi, Tatsue, Iida City, Nagano Prefecture. It is said that Shinoda Tokusai established an official kiln for the Iida Domain. Obayashi ware is the oldest pottery in Nagano Prefecture. Their kiln is known for following the Mino style. The iron-glazed komainu statuettes that were made in 1609 have been handed down over generations.Around 1897, Hagimoto Tosai applied the technique of carving seals into the pottery to make Tenryu ware.They closed temporarily, but in the late Edo period, Mizuno Gizaburo moved to Obayashi and restored the kiln. Before that, Mizuno Gizaburo used to teach the (more…)

Tenryukyo pottery 天龍峡焼

Tenryukyo ware is pottery made in Tenryukyo, Tatsue, Iida City, Nagano Prefecture. Near the end of the Edo period, around 1624, a potter from Seto was invited to the area to make oniwa ware for the Iida Domain. It is said that this was the start of the current Tenryukyo ware.When the domain ceased to support the kiln during the Meiji Restoration, the kiln was turned private. After a very long time, Shinoda Tokusai (Shiro) and Hagimoto Tosai (Teijiro) started creating pottery using the techniques of Yahata Kosho, a seal carving master from Suwa, in 1903. They fired the pottery (more…)

Sakurajima pottery 桜島焼

Sakurajima ware is pottery made in Sakurajima, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Originally, the Ogaku pottery kiln was established to produce White Satsuma ware. However, around 1985, when Sakurajima had a lot of volcanic activities, the current head, Hashino Midori, mixed the volcanic ashes of Sakurajima into the clay. He also bored into the ground, and used the high-iron-content spring water that came out to make his pottery, creating Sakurajima ware, a unique elegant pottery with complex colors like no other. www.ougaku.com桜島焼 窯元 桜岳陶芸（おうがくとうげい） (more…)

Hachinohe pottery 八戸焼

Until the late Edo period, Hachinohe ware was made in a private kiln in Kanisawayama, inside Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture. They made pottery for the common people.The pottery was located in Kanisawayama, inside Hachinohe City, and it had a climbing kiln and a cave kiln. It was known as Hachinohe ware or Kanisawayama ware, but its foundation date and founder are unknown, and there are no records about it remaining. It has been forgotten over the years, and in the Showa era, Hachinohe ware became a legend.The current Hachinohe ware was founded in 1975 by Watanabe Shozan, who aimed to (more…)

Narushima pottery 成島焼

It is said that Narushima ware originated 230 years ago, in 1781, when Lord Uesugi Harunori, restorer of the Yonezawa Domain, established a kiln in Narushima, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, and had Sagara Seizaemon Atsutada produce pottery there as part of promoting new industries to financially sustain the domain.After that, they were overwhelmed by Seto pottery at the end of the Meiji period, so they temporarily closed. However, because it had been said for a long time that there was good-quality potter’s clay in Imaizumiyama, Wakui Toshizo trained at Hirashimizu ware in 1937 in Imaizumi, Nagai City, Yamagata Prefecture. He (more…)

Hachiman pottery 八幡焼

Hachiman ware was made in a pottery near Toda Hachimangu Shrine in Hirose Town, Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture. It is said that Hachiman ware originated in 1723 when the Shinto priest, Takeya Buzen-no-kami, and the feudal retainer, Kumagai Yoshitake, from the Toda Hachimangu Shrine, invited a potter from Sakushu (Mimasaka Province, or the current Okayama Prefecture), and had him establish a kiln. (more…)

Fujigoko pottery 富士五湖焼

In 1963, the Fujigoko ware kiln was established in Fujikawaguchiko Town, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi Prefecture, under the guidance of Hosokawa Hidetoshi, one of Kyomizu Rokubei’s apprentices. (more…)

Kujaku pottery 孔雀焼

After the Second Sino-Japanese War, the founder, Matsuyama Gaei (1916–1963) went to mainland China as a pacification officer. He was impressed by Chinese pottery, so he studied it. In 1947, he went back to Japan and opened a kiln in Tominaga, Tatsuno Town, Hyogo Prefecture. He started making Tatsuno ware using clay from Issai Town under the guidance of Kyomizu Rokubei from Kyoto. This was how Kujaku ware originated.In 1950, he moved the kiln to Kamikajo, and in 1951, he perfected the Yohen Kujaku Tenmoku glaze, creating Kujaku ware. In 1963, when the founder had a gastrointestinal disease, he passed (more…)

Zuishi pottery 瑞芝焼

Zuishi ware is pottery made in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture. It was named Zuishi because the feudal lord, Harutomi described it as “a celadon porcelain that is reminiscent to the green color of the lawn.”The 10th feudal lord of the Kishu Domain from the Tokugawa Gosanke, Harutomi, put effort in promoting cultures and traditions. In his era, from 1789–1824, there were three official kilns; Kairakuen ware, Nanki Otokoyama ware, and Zuishi ware. (They were all closed in the early Meiji period.)In 1796, the Zuishi ware kiln was established at the riverbank of Mokuzugawa, Shindo Town, (formerly Suzumaru Town), Hatayashiki, Wakayama (more…)

Yashima pottery 屋島焼

Yashima ware is pottery made in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture. Their pottery is known for following the style of Gennai ware. The head potter of Yashima ware is always given the name of Mitani Rinso.The first-generation Rinso was born in 1752 in Mure Village, Kita District. He was adopted by Mitani Keiei from Hiragi Village, Kita District in 1776. Before that, in 1766, he trained in Shido Village under a pottery master. There are two different theories; one says that he became the apprentice of a potter that makes Gennai ware, by the name of Sakaiya Gengo, at that time, (more…)

Tanegashima pottery 種子島焼

It is said that Tanegashima ware started around the 17th–18th centuries. Up until 1902, there had originally been pottery known as Yokino ware made in a climbing kiln in Tanegashima.Tanegashima is abundant in iron sand, so its mud has a high iron content. That is why pottery made with that mud is known to be masculine, simple, and rich.Yokino ware masterpieces are preserved in the Tanegashima Development Center.The ruins of the Yokino ware kiln were designated as a cultural property of Nishinoomote City on February 12th, 1975.In February 1971, the Tanegashima kiln was established by a potter from Karatsu by (more…)

Sesshu pottery 雪舟焼

Sesshu ware is pottery made in Someba Town, Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture. In 1949, the founder, Fukugo Futetsu (changed his name to Tetsu in 1963), was inspired by the traditional art of the outstanding artist, Sesshu, who is associated with Masuda City. He left Okayama ware, which was located in Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture, and established the Sesshu ware kiln at the foot of Mt. Kagozo in Masuda. (more…)

Hosshouji pottery 法勝寺焼

Ando Hidetaro (1876-1937) founded the Hoshoji-yaki-Hanaya-kiln, which was succeeded by Ando Yoshiaki (1913-1953), the second generation of the family, who built the Matsuba-kiln, and later built the Kaio-kiln. After handing over the Matsuhana and Kaioh kilns to him, he built a Hinoyama-Yobuko-kiln, which means there are three kilns in total, but no one took over the Yobuko kiln, so there are now only two, the Matsuhana and Kaioh kilns. (more…)

Ushinoto pottery 牛ノ戸焼

Ushinoto ware is pottery made in Kawahara Town, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture. Ushinoto ware was founded by Kanekawa Toshichi (born in Tottori) between 1830-1844. In 1837, the Kobayashi Umegoro family, who came from Iwami, Gotsu Town, Shimane Prefecture, succeeded Ushinoto ware. They established an Ushinoto kiln in Ushinoto, Kawahara Town, Tottori Prefecture.After that, the Ushinoto kiln was succeeded by Kobayashi Kumasaburo, the second-generation head, and Kobayashi Hidenosuke, the third-generation head. They mainly produced everyday pottery (water pots, sake bottles, mortars and pestles). However, their business gradually declined, and it became difficult to continue in the era of the fourth-generation head, (more…)

Rihei pottery 理平焼

Rihei ware is pottery made in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture. It originated when Lord Matsudaira Yorishige, the founder of the Takamatsu Domain in Sanuki, invited a potter from Kyoto called Morishima Sakubei Shigetoshi and had him make oniwa ware. They produced Kyo-ware-style tea bowls. Rihei ware is also known as Takamatsu ware, Obayashi ware, Rihei ware, Iwaseo ware, and Inariyama ware.In 1647, he changed his name to Kita Rihei Shigetoshi, and established a kiln to the north of the Ritsurin Villa, the secondary residence of the Takamatsu Domain. Since then, the descendants of the Kita family have succeeded the name (more…)

Kosugi pottery 小杉焼

Kosugi ware is pottery made in Kosugi Town (currently Imizu City), Toyama Prefecture. In 1816, a local potter called Takahata Yozaemon (died in 1838) established a kiln. It is said that Yozaemon visited various potteries in places including Soma, Seto, Mino, and Kyoto, and trained a lot there. Ever since he returned to his hometown, Mt. Miwa, he made various everyday items, such as tea utensils, sake sets, tableware, and ritual utensils. The sake bottles adorned with copper glaze and iron glaze were especially famous. Among those, the gourd-shaped sake bottles and the duck-shaped sake bottles with ameyu glaze line (more…)