Japanese pottery and porcelain

Mizuno pottery 水野焼

It is Raku-ware from around the Bunsei era to the Tenpo era.Mizuno Dewanokami Tadakira who was an Edo Senke tea master and student of Kawakami Fuhaku, invited a potter named Michitaro to his own mansion in Tatsunokuchi in Edo and let him make Raku-ware work.With the death of Tadakira in 1838, the kiln was abandoned and the period of production period was short, so there are very few existing works. However, it is believed that he was able to get guidance at the recommendation of Kawakami Fuhaku, a master whose Raku-ware technique was close to that of the ninth generation (more…)

Gentaku pottery 玄琢焼

Tsuchihashi Kahe (1867-1946), a tea master and tea implement dealer in Kyoto, built a folk art-style villa designed by Kawai Kanjiro in Gentaku of Kita ward in Kyoto in 1934. At the time he built a kiln in the garden and invited potters like Sasaki Shoraku, and Oshima Rakuan, and they fired things like Raku-ware, Shino-ware and Karatsu-ware. (more…)

Chotaro pottery 長太郎焼

The first Ariyama Chotaro, who was engaged as a painter with the Oniwa-ware of the Shimazu family in Kagoshima prefecture, learned the technique of making Raku-ware in Kyoto with the aim of being independent. Around 1889 after returning home, he opened a kiln in Kamifukumoto in Taniyama Town (currently Kamifukumoto Town in Kagoshima City) and showed great devotion to studying Raku-ware and Kuro-Satsuma (Black pottery). He made things like ornaments, incense burners, tea implements and sake cups, of which were praised in 1920 by artist Kuroda Seiki who named them ‘Chotaro-ware’.Also, Ariyama Chosuke is now succeeding as the fourth generation (more…)

Uguisudani pottery 鶯谷焼

With this pottery, at around 1871, the former Kaga feudal lords Maeda Hajime and Hisada Sobei opened a kiln in Uguisudani, Mukaiyama in Kanazawa to make small pieces as a hobby. After three or four years it was abandoned but had been inherited by the first generation Yokohagi Ikko and second generation Ikkou, Uguisudani Shohei, Nozaki Sakichi, Tomita Tadao, and Noga Hanayama.The style differs depending on each potter, but the ones that apply Mokubei-style painting are commonplace. (more…)

Yasaka pottery 八坂焼

One of the Kyo-ware kilns built in what is now Yasaka, Higashiyama ward in Kyoto (around Gion, Shijo and Gojo) around the early Edo period (1624-44 of the Kanei era).Furthermore, the details of the person who opened the kiln and the potter who engaged in production are currently largely unknown. (more…)

Maiko pottery 舞子焼

It began when Kinugasa Sohei who was from Yamada Village, Akashi District in Harima Province (formerly Yamada Town, Nada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture) made thin pottery modeled on Kyoto’s Awata-ware around the Kansei era, and sold it as a souvenir of Maikohama. However it was temporarily abolished in its second generation, but was revived during the Tenpo era, by a person from the same village named Takata Tsuchinosuke.In addition to the above, around the seventh year of the Bunka era Mikuni Kyuhachi from Okuradani (Okuradani of Akashi City) originated a kiln which fired goods for everyday use such as (more…)

Niroku pottery 二六焼

The first generation Sasaki Niroku (1857-1935), who had been engaged in the production of roof tiles for generations, was deeply impressed at seeing Matsumoto Kisaburo’s dolls in Tokushima in 1883, and aimed to become a puppeteer there, but in 1887 he moved into ceramics and went around to kiln sites in each region for training. After that, he returned to his hometown and built a kiln to make Niroku-ware that was hand-carving realistic depictions of motifs of things like crabs, tigers and landscapes into ceramic receptacles and producing ornaments of people and lions etc., with amazing natural colors. Since then (more…)

Seikanji pottery 清閑寺焼

Around 1670, an apprentice of Nonomura Ninsei opened a kiln at an old kiln site around Seikanji Temple in Higashiyama Ward in Kyoto City. There are various theories that in the Hotoku era (1449-1452) Otowaya Kuroemon opened a kiln, and in the Genna era (1615-24) a kiln was opened by a Buddhist minister of rites at Seikanji Temple etc., but there is nothing definitive about such things as the time of origin and manufacturers, and it is one type of pottery where little is known.Currently, Kyo-ware artist Sugita Shohei develops excellent tea bowls in the style of Ninsei’s color painting, (more…)

Kamijiyama pottery 神路山焼

Pottery originated by Kamiyama Unosuke in Ujiyamada of Mie Prefecture around 1905, also known as Kamiji-ware.Kamiyama first practiced pottery with Shigaraki-ware and then Akogi-ware, and served as the manager of an Akogi-ware factory (abandoned in 1900), which had become an incorporated organization. After that, he called on potters and painters from Shigaraki and Seto etc., and originated Kamijiyama-ware. It is pottery that draws on the style of Akogi-ware, and is made mainly focusing on receptacles for daily life. (more…)

Edo-Korakuen pottery 江戸後楽園焼

The predominant theory is that the Oniwa-ware which was fired at Korakuen – the Edo residence for the Mito-Tokugawa family – originated at the invitation of Kyoto’s Raku Chonyu (seventh generation Raku Kichizaemon) around the Horeki era (1751-64).For this reason, Raku ware-style early works remain, but around the Tenpo era (1830-44), Cochin-ware that was modeled on Kairakuen-ware of the Tokugawa family of the Kishu domain was also fired.Also, works made by sixth generation feudal lord Tokugawa Narinobu, and seventh generation feudal lord Tokugawa Nariaki themselves also remain. Narinobu affixed the name of ‘Kanaeyama’ to his work, and Nariaki affixed the (more…)

Okayama-Korakuen pottery 岡山後楽園焼

Also known as Asahikawa pottery. It is said to have originated around the Shotoku era (1711-15) and is Oniwa-ware of the Ikeda clan in Bizen Province.Works which center around Bizen color painting remain, but the works made by the feudal lords themselves retain a Raku-ware-style. Among them, the third feudal lord Ikeda Tsugumasa’s (1702-1767) work is said to be particularly excellent.Also, it was called Asahikawa-ware as well, based on the Asahi River flowing through Korakuen, and continued until the end of the Edo period. However, it was discontinued due to the repair work of Asahi River’s bank during the Tenpo (more…)

Kaseyama porcelain 鹿背山焼

Porcelain fired in Kaseyama of the Soraku district in Kyoto Prefecture originated when the Ichijo family (Kaneka), who were feudal lords of the area, tried to build up the industry by inviting in Morimoto Sukezaemon, a potter from Nara. It continued until the Meiji era.Mainly dyed blue and white with a seal (also known as Kase copperplate-ware), it produces plates, bowls, and green tea (Sencha) bowls. Many of the pattern designs are of Chinese descent, such as Shozui-style, Chinese figures, hermits, flowers and birds, and dragons. (more…)

Hira pottery 比良焼

It is said that the pottery from Kido in Omi Province (currently Kido of Shika Town in Shiga Prefecture) was produced at the foot of the Hira Mountains, but the period it officially began and when it was abandoned are unknown.It is said that the potters of Kyo-ware such as Ninsei and his apprentices were involved, often leaving works like Gohon-style or Kizeto-style, and there are ones remaining where ‘Hira’ (比良) or ‘Hira’ (比羅) are inscribed. (more…)

Ashiwara pottery 芦原焼

Pottery originated by Kuze Tensei (1878-1933) in 1914 in the Awara Onsen region of Fukui Prefecture, using clay from the same area to produce various Kyo-ware-style receptacles.At first, it had the feeling of being a souvenir from Awara Onsen, but it gradually became more artistic, and was painted by iron glazing and dyeing, and even won prizes in exhibitions and such.Currently, the third generation Kuze Takesuke has taken over production as the potter. (more…)

Seta pottery 瀬田焼

One of the Seven Kilns of EnshuThere are many unknowns about the origin of this pottery, such as the theory that it was founded as an official kiln by Suganuma Sadayoshi (1587-1643), lord of Zeze Castle, who was a close friend of Hon’ami Koetsu and Kobori Enshu, and that it had already been fired before that time.Ishikawa Tadafusa (1583-1650), an apprentice of Kobori Enshu, succeeded Sadayoshi as lord of the castle, built a kiln in Oe, Seta, and had the family of potter Tarouemon produce only tea ceramics (this is said to be the reason for the Enshu seven kilns). (more…)

Kosobe pottery 古曽部焼

Kosobe ware is pottery produced in Kosobe, Settsu Province (Kosobe Town, Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture). Their kiln was established somewhere between the end of the Momoyama period and the start of the Edo period. After the era from 1624–1643, the kiln was temporarily shut down in the mid-Edo period. However, it is said that around 1790, the founder, Igarashi Shinpei (died in 1829), who had learned pottery techniques in Kyoto, established a climbing kiln in the town currently known as Kosobe, Takatsuki City, and restored Kosobe ware.Most Kosobe ware products have a pottery mark on them. The marks they used (more…)

Suigetsu pottery 水月焼

The founder, Yoshikawa Tsunekata, was born on May 6th, 1883 in Toricho, Iyo Matsuyama, as the eldest son of Yoshikawa Bakotsu (pseudonym), a Kano school artist. Since childhood, he has been dedicated to painting, but also very fond of pottery. When he was 20, he discovered good-quality potter’s clay in Kinuyama, a western suburb in Matsuyama. “I want to express paintings in more dimensions,” said Tsunekata. He built a kiln in the garden in earnest, and founded his hobby kiln, Suigetsu ware.He perfected the theme of Suigetsu ware, which was a lively crab, in 1921, after getting a red-clawed crab (more…)

Himeji pottery 姫路焼

It’s another name for Higashiyama-ware. It became a kiln for the Himeji Sakai family and firing went on there until around 29, and moved to Himeji Otokoyama in 31. For the work around this time, the products were particularly excellent because Ogata Shuhei, a Kyo-ware potter at that time, was invited in and asked for his guidance and such, However, when the Ansei era came, he became independent of the Sakai family and switched to production with private potters, and in 1876 of the Meiji era, established the workshop ‘Eiseisha’, changing to mainly producing porcelain for export. At the time (more…)

Minoh pottery 箕面焼

When the Matsuda Kizan (Matsuda Shiyo 1889-1961) visited Minoh in the northern part of Osaka Prefecture in 1921, she was shown the autumn leaves of the area, and wondered how she could express these vivid vermilion colors in ceramics. After repeated trial and error, she completed a Raku-ware-style work of marbled red glaze, which was named Minoh-ware by Kobayashi Ichizo at her first solo exhibition at Hankyu Department Store in 1937, and is the origin of its name.Since then, the second generation of Matsuda Kizan has inherited that traditional technique (the second generation’s new work is not marbled, but has (more…)

Asahi pottery (Azuma pottery) 旭焼 (吾妻焼)

1890-1896It is a low-fired pottery of high artistic value, with ancient Japanese painting techniques applied under the glaze originated by Gottfried Wagner in 1883. Wagner was devoted to glaze research at that time, and applied the vigorous brush strokes of Japanese painting to ceramics. He used a chalky substance which had not been used in Japanese-style ceramics and porcelain before, and through trial and error with an underglaze technique of applying a glaze after painting, he did one experiment after another at such places as Tokyo Edogawa factories as well as at Kato Tomotaro’s kiln in Seto. As a result, (more…)