Takeo-kei Takeuchi Kiln

Tsukazaki
Takeo was formerly known as Tsukazaki (also written as Matagarasaki or Hakozaki), and the area where the Takeo kilns are located is very old, with Takeo Shrine here being dedicated to Emperor Shomu, Emperor Chuai and three other deities in 745, making it a shrine that is over 1,200 years old.

The land of Kijima
The land of Kijima was originally called Kashima, and the area facing the Ariake Sea was once a large bay, but even now, shells are often found north of Yamaguchi Station, and the area around Shiraishi is completely covered in mud.
Among the local lords of this area, the Goto family of Tsukazaki had the longest and most illustrious lineage. The family tree is shown on the left.
(See the Goto family tree)
The first generation, Ujishige Akira, was originally from the Sakado estate in Kawachi Province, and became a deputy inspector of the Imperial Prosecuting and Investigating Office, and owned the Tsukazaki estate in Hizen Province. He was one of the seven brave warriors of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi. His son Masaaki became a local lord and built a castle in Tsukazaki in the Gen’ei era (1118-1120), while his successor Sukemitsu built the Sumiyoshi Castle in Kurokami Yamashita. Then, in the Jishou era (1177-1181), the fourth generation Munemitsu also held the Iwamori domain.

Ujiami Nyudo Jomei
The 9th generation Ujiami Jōmyō, together with his uncle Tsukazaki Jūrō Sadamitsu, his son Nakano Goro Yorimitsu, and his brothers Takeo Ōmiya-ji Yorimichi, gained a great reputation as warriors against the Mongolian invaders in August of the 4th year of the Kōan era (1281). His grandson, Sōbu-no-kami Mitsuaki, followed the 13th generation Ujiami Sadamitsu in the 2nd year of the Jōwa era (1346)
followed Ashikaga Nao-fuyu and joined the Southern Court, devoting himself to the service of the emperor, and came to rule over the two counties of Kushima and Minami. Then, under the 17th generation Shokumei Jōmyō, the family’s power and influence greatly increased.

He also controlled Nagashima Manor.
On March 15th, 1527, Shibue Umatou, the lord of Hiko-yama Castle (in Wakagi Village, Kishima County) and son-in-law of Joken, was poisoned to death along with his second son, Kimimasa, by his wet nurse. and made him his heir, Joken became very angry and, together with his adopted son Sumiaki (who was actually Koshi’s eldest son), attacked and captured Hikkosan Castle, forcing Koshi to flee and leaving Nagashima Castle in their possession.

Sengan defeats the tail of the camp
In January of the third year of Kyouryaku (1530), Arima Sen’gan (Shuri-dayu Harujun), the lord of Takaki, planned to recover Nagashima for Koushinno, and attacked the Sumiyoshi castle town after capturing the Shiraki fort on the upper west side of Takeo. Sen’gan defeated the main camp of the enemy and forced them to retreat.　On August 11th, 1542, Shibue Shimotsuke no Kami Ujichika defeated the Takeo army with reinforcements from Hata Mori of Kishidake and Matsuura Takanobu of Hirado, recapturing Hikkosan Castle. However, on November 5th of the same year, Junmyo attacked unexpectedly and took the castle again, completely annexing Nagashima. Junmyo died on March 18th of the same year at the Tsukazaki Kawahara residence.

Takayoshi Goto
Takayoshi was the second son of Omura Sumiaki, who was adopted by the previous lord, Sumiaki. In August of the 6th year of Eiroku (1565), Takayoshi fought a battle in Sumi against Shimabara Shikibu Daisuke Sumitoyo, Saigo Tamasada Shobu Sumihisa, and Suko no Inokazukimori Kageharu, etc., and suffered a crushing defeat, but later recovered his strength and came to rule over several counties, including Matsuura, Fujitsu, and Kani.

Takaaki rebelled
Takaaki had no male heir, and so Matsura Takanobu of Hirado raised his son Mokubei Takaaki, but later, when his own son Yajiro Seimei was born, a natural discord arose between father and son.
On the first day of the twelfth month of the first year of the Tensho era (1573), Tadamune held a meeting with his close advisors, including Shibue Bungo no Kami (the son of Koushi), Konosuke Hyobu no Daisuke (the son of Koushi), Hachimari Ukomon no Dayu (the son of Koushi), Nakano Hyogonosuke (the son of Koushi), Matsuo Shigeaki, the governor of Buzen, and others, and secretly plotted to assassinate Kiaki. When he learned of Goto Shinkuro, he was surprised and informed his older brother Nakano Taro Sadamitsu, who then conspired with Tsuji Uo Toyoaki to have Kiaki run to Sumiyoshi Castle on June 23rd of the same year.

Surrounding Sumiyoshi Castle
When the Tsukazaki army attacked Sumiyoshi Castle, the castle was defended by the chief vassal Nakamura Shimonokami Kimiaki, Nagata Kawachimori Hisama Satsumamori Moritane, and others, and they were joined by Imari Taro Jiroji, the son-in-law of Imari, and Nakamura Hanbei, a samurai from Arita. In addition, Kawahara no Kawanori Takashi (the father of Naruyuki’s son-in-law) went to Mateno and captured those who were suspected of running to the side of the warrior Tsukazaki and held them as hostages.
On the 3rd of July of the same year, the Tsukazaki army marched across the Akao Pass, and the Sumiyoshi army met them and fought at Tsubakihara and Nagatani, but Kiyomitsu was defeated and retreated, burning the Mikama Pass and Mt. Chokai on the way. From this point onwards, Kiyomitsu made plans with the nobleman Sadamitsu (the father of Goto Munenobu), and sent Hara Noto no Kami Nobufusa and Taketomi Shima no Sukenobu to Saga to request help from Ryuzoji Takanobu.

Takanobu
Takanobu also asked Takanobu for help, but Takanobu refused to help the ungrateful son of his lord, and immediately sent the lord of Okawano Hizukuri Castle, Tsuruta Inaba no Kami, to help the army of Takanobu’s son, Hyoubu no Daisuke and his son, Tsuruta Inaba no Kami, to help the Sumiyoshi army. He himself also led a large army and crossed the Shirahida Pass, and then descended to the Ryuzoji army, where he was greatly admired by Tsuruta Inaba no Kami, who pardoned Takayoshi and allowed him to return to Hirado.

The Kannon of the Childbirth Guardian
Tsuruta Inaba no Kami was once in the Hirado domain, but later he was exiled to the Kuroo mountain in Imari. At that time he had a daughter named Yoshie, who was beautiful and talented in writing. At the time, Ryuzoji Ietsugu (who was said to be the son of Takanobu, but his name does not appear in the family tree) was in control of Imari, and he asked Yoshie to make a treasure for him. on March 17th, 1587, he died in childbirth, so Iesada ordered Tazawa Genban to carve his portrait into a statue of Kannon and enshrined it at Entsuu-ji temple in Imari. The statue is now enshrined as the guardian of childbirth on the main altar of the temple’s main hall.

Ienobu became the heir
The article returned to its original state, and in 1577, the third son of Ryuzoji Takanobu, Zenjiro Ienobu, was adopted as a son-in-law by Tsuchiichi Hime of Kiami, and over 50 people from Saga, including Nabeshima Mokunosuke Nobufusa and Narimatsu Shinsakomon Nobuyoshi, were transferred. Ienobu was adopted by Oda Chinko of Hasuike, and was taken in together with Chinko’s wife (the second wife of Gohata Mikawamori Chikara), who was executed for treason. From this Takayoshi retired to a secluded life in Ashihara (Hashishita-mura) and spent his final years there, passing away on August 2nd, 1583 at the age of 52.

Sumiyoshi Castle as his main residence
In April 1586, Ienobu settled in Sumiyoshi Castle, and according to the red seal of March 7th of the same year, he owned the Arita region of the Shimo Matsura area outside of the Tsukazaki Manor, as well as the Togo area of the Ogi region, and he received a stipend of 19,703 koku of rice (or 29,600 koku, or perhaps he also owned a part of the Fujitsu and part of the Fujitsu district, as well as the Hihara district of the Sawara district in Chikuzen Province). However, the Sumiyoshi Castle was the territory of Ryuzoji Takafusa (the grandson of Takanobu), and it was left along with the six other castles of Hasuike, Suko, Tsunehiro, Hachinohe, and Ashihara, while the other castles were all destroyed.

Tsukazaki moved to Tsukazaki Castle
In 1599, Tsukazaki Castle was repaired and moved to a new location, and in the following year, the Goto family name was changed to the Nabeshima family name. Ienobu died at the age of 60 on April 2nd, 1618, at his residence in Nagano.

From this the Sumiyoshi Castle was completely destroyed, and now all that remains is a memory of the climbers who scaled the mountain at that time. The samurai residences that once stood in the castle town have now become quiet farming villages, although the names of the small roads remain.

Ienobu follows the war
Goto Juzakomon-no-jo, who followed the Ienobu campaign, went on a campaign with Nabeshima Naoshige in the first year of Bunroku, and although he fought in many battles and became famous, it is not known how many potters he brought with him from Korea and had them open kilns in various places in his territory. even if we look at the many old kiln sites distributed in the areas of Takeuchi, Wakagi, and the Tōzai Kawato region, it seems that a considerable number of people came to the area, and it is likely that they continued to come in later years as well.
At the time there were 70 old kiln sites in the territory of the Goto family, which were connected by Tadamichi Miyahara of Takeo, and after that, there were more than 10 sites added by Mitsuo Oya.

Motoyama The Great Excavation of Hikoichi’s Old Kilns
In May 1930, Hikoichi Motoyama, the president of the Osaka Mainichi and Tokyo Nichinichi newspapers, appointed his company member Tsunezo Oya (a graduate of the 6th class of the Arita Technical School in Nakadori Village, Kushima County) as the supervisor , Takeuchi, Wakagi and others had 38 old kiln sites excavated, and by exhibiting the many fragments they caused a great sensation in the academic world.

The exhibition by the Tokyo Nichinichi Exhibition
As a result, the aforementioned excavated items were displayed at the Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun building for three days from December 12th of the same year, and the Hizen Ancient Kiln Excavation Items Exhibition . The exhibition was a great success, and the company made a significant contribution to the field of archaeology.

The exhibition Their Imperial Highnesses
The exhibition aroused great interest among the general public, and on the first day, Their Imperial Highnesses Prince Chichibu and Princess Chichibu visited the exhibition, as did Prince Yi of Korea. On the second day, Prince Asaka visited the exhibition. In total, the exhibition was visited by 5,000 people over the three days.

The second Second Large-Scale Excavation
Over the course of three days from February 17th of the following year, the president of Honten, together with employees from Oya, excavated several thousand fragments from the old kiln sites of Uchida and Kurokuma, and also introduced more than ten new old kiln sites. on March 18th of the same year, at the Tohnichi-sha, they exhibited to the academic world 80 or so pieces of excavated items, including white porcelain, blue porcelain, cinnabar, and other kiln-altered objects, such as ruri, hakeme, and inlay, as well as over 100 photographs and books related to the excavation , as well as over 100 photographs and books related to the excavation, were displayed and presented to the academic world.

The Daimai Exhibition
In April of the same year, the Kansai Sai-kobo-kai hosted an exhibition of excavated fragments of old kilns on the 13th, 14th and 15th of the month at the Osaka Dai-mai Building. it was also highly praised as a valuable resource for the academic world, and on the 14th, we were honored by the visit of Her Imperial Highness Princess Kuni and Count Higashifushimi.

The rise of the excavation fever The Rise of
the Hori Family’s Excavations The excavations by the head of the family further spurred on the excavators of the old kiln sites in the surrounding area, and although some of the excavated items were of a more antiquarian nature, there were also a number of serious researchers among them. the story of how the old kilns in the area around Uchida, Kuromuta and their surroundings were discovered by whom, and the circumstances surrounding this, can be seen in the story of the Korean campaign of Hideyoshi.

Tributes collection
After Hideyoshi launched the Korean campaign, it became necessary to raise funds to cover the huge cost of the campaign, and so temples throughout the country were forced to pay a war tribute. Horai-zan Kofuku-ji temple in Tsukazaki was a very important temple in the Rinzai sect of Kyushu, but at the time it was in a very poor situation in terms of being able to pay the war tribute that had been imposed on it. In particular the 40th chief priest of the temple, was in the Korean campaign under the local lord, Nobunori, and the priests who were left behind explained that they were unable to pay the tribute at the moment. . The officials were adamant and would not relent, and everything from the statues and sutras to the ritual implements and furniture was confiscated. From this time on, the temple buildings were also said to have fallen into disrepair.

Separate Sect priest
At the time, the priest of the separate sect followed Ieshin into the Korean front lines, where he spent several years praying for the repose of the souls of the war dead.
After returning to Japan, Ieshin after returning to the army, he was praised for his services and was given 50 koku of temple land and a painting of the Nirvana, and was also allowed to proselytize and build a Buddhist temple, which was a magnificent and rare temple.
(There is a national treasure of Unkei’s Four Heavenly Kings statue , there is a national treasure of Unkei’s Four Heavenly Kings statues). Thus, the sect was transferred on March 6th, 1600.

Shinkai and Kimhae
Here, the Korean name for the city of Chosun is “Shimhae” (the Japanese pronunciation of this is “Shimane”). , and there is a theory that the remains of the castle of the Nabeshima army from that time still remain in Imakane. (Also, in this Imakane, there are tea bowls with square-shaped raised platforms, etc., made with brush marks in the pottery-making area)
A certain potter , who was a potter, came to Tsukazaki on the same ship as the aforementioned Besshu, and took off his traveling clothes at a house in front of the Hirofuku-ji temple.

Besshu and Soden
It is unclear It is unclear what kind of relationship he had with Besshu in Korea, but he deeply admired Besshu’s virtue and became a Buddhist monk, taking the name Soshu. He also changed his surname to Fukami, his hometown, and was known as Shintaro.

Takeuchi Kaiko
Soden was 36 years old at the time, but it is not known how many of his family accompanied him. It is thought that there were probably quite a few companions accompanying him, in addition to his family. were delighted with the hot springs here, and while staying for a little over a year, they surveyed the mountains in the area and discovered suitable clay in the mountains of Takeuchi Village, and they opened their first kiln here. Needless to say, it goes without saying that I gave them protection and funds.
And now when we consider the styles of the many old kilns in the area around Kuromuta and Uchida in Takeuchi, it is clear that the kilns in the Takeuchi area were not built by a single person, but were developed by several people. And now there is even a dispute over the family line of the founder, with some saying it was Kuromuta and others saying it was Uchida.

One person One theory
says that Soden first opened a kiln in Kuromuta’s Sabitani, and from there he took over the land in the area around Hirokoma and built kilns wherever he could, and thus it is said that they left the old kiln sites at Nanamagari, Mizunashi and Yamazaki, and then went up Uchida Valley, and came to Kotoge from the direction of Kanayama Valley and Bell Mountain Valley, and stopped there. This is probably the result of people trying to forcefully link the opening of the kilns to just one person, Soden.

Building kilns in the mountains building kilns
The reason why they built their kilns deep in the mountains, far from human habitation, was primarily due to the need for firewood and water, and also to take into account the convenience of water wheels for digging up raw materials and grinding stones There are many reasons for this, such as concealing one’s own skills, or avoiding the oppression of the local people, but it is not thought that a single person would have built a kiln in such a remote location.
Even in the present day, it is not easy to build a kiln, so until a few years ago, the operators would collectively save up to build a kiln.

Earthen-plastered kiln
Originally The old-fashioned kilns were built using only clay without any tonbai (brick-shaped kiln material), so they took a long time to dry, but they were more permanent than tonbai kilns and were said to have been used for at least 20 years. After that, some people used tonbai were also used, but these were often unburned earthenware called “nama-tonbi”.

Comparison of the remains of the two kilns
If you look out from Kuromuta Kohei’s mulberry field at the remains of the Hashi-ba kilns, which stretch across the sweet potato field, you can see that they are made up of a series of 7 or 8 kilns, each about 1.5 tatami mats in size. Of course, was built relatively large, like the mortar for grinding, etc., even if it was built relatively large, even the kiln ruins of Saba-dani are about 17 or 18 rooms high. In particular, the kiln ruins of Uchida Oya are about 2.5 rooms high and 2 rooms wide, and it seems that it is about 180 meters high. If Soden had built all the kilns in the Uchida, Kuromuta and Minteno areas, he would have spent half his life building kilns.

Repairing burnt-out kilns repair
Even in an age when kiln-building technology had not advanced to the level it has today, it was impossible to replace the fire-resistant tiles and repair the kiln when the so-called “burning down” occurred, as it is known today, and the onzan (fire-air window) developed a fault. At such times it was recognized that it was unavoidable to build a new kiln.
Therefore, in places like Mikawa , they discovered fire-resistant sand and gravel at the intersection of the Takedamaru-za in the west, and after crushing and sieving this, they mixed it with glue and applied it to red and yellow sand, and later they used this as the raw material for fire-resistant tonpai. Therefore, it is undeniable that more kilns were built before the use of fire-resistant it is undeniable that more kilns were built before the use of refractory clay than in later generations. However the kilns built by the Korean people in Hizen were all climbing kilns, and many of them were 30-40 ken long, while the smaller ones were 5-6 ken long. This is why we cannot agree with the idea that they were like the single-room kilns in the Ono area, where the wood was easily moved around.

The Kuromuta and Uchida and Uchida
It seems that Uchida in Higashi-Madeno and Kuromuta in Nishi-Madeno are different pottery traditions, and that they were distributed to various kilns. If we divide them geographically geographically, the Kuromuta style should be considered as a single style, and include Gion-shita, Kohei, Kora-bo, Hashi-ba, Mukai-hei, Mukai-ke, Monohara, Gozu-yaki, Maruo, Minashi, Nanamagari, Hiro-Kora, and Sabi-dani. The Uchida style should be considered as one group, along with Ichinokiya, Matanoya, Kanegayamaya, Otani (Tatarano Tsuji), Furuya, Kotoumae, Kotouoku, etc.
Also, the Yamazaki pottery of Nishimadeno Yamazaki-Mitome in Nishimateno seems to be a branch kiln of Kuromuta, and the Shoko-dani, Suginomoto, Rishoko-dani, and Kogo-ko-no-tsuji in the Higashi-Mateno area are all branches of the Ama kilns.
As for the Ino-koba in Nishimateno , there is a separate person who opened a kiln. Of course, Ubagahara, Nagayoshi-dani, and Uto-dani in Higashi-Mateno are separate people. And, Nishi-dake and Yasudahara in Tara are completely separate kilns.

Nagao’s Koryo Kiln Koryo Kiln
In the village of Nakatudori, there is a kiln called Nagao Koryo, which is currently being excavated. The only items found so far are small dishes with a yellow or grey glaze, and some of them have decorations painted on them in the Karatsu style. Nagao’s Korean people crossed the Kamikuni mountains not long after, and it is a plausible theory that they opened the Omura domain’s Tōzan Nagaoyama.
The Wakaki village area area, there are old kiln sites such as Yagotani-sasa, Yagotani-migi, Miagari-no-o, Tobetsu-tou, Kuchu-no-tani, and Shoujin-yama, and the fact that the style of the large-scale products made in this area has much in common with those made in Takeuchi suggests that the same group of Korean potters were working in the neighboring area of Yagotani.

The current situation of Kuromuta Current situation
When considering whether the main base of the Sōden family was Kuromuta or Uchida, the once prosperous business of the Amayama family has now declined beyond recognition, and there are only about 20 households in Kuromuta today, of which four make pottery and eight bake pottery. However, decades ago, there were around 50 pottery families, although they were small-scale. There were also direct descendants of Koreans living here, and when there was a call for immigrants to go to Korea, there was someone called Kawanami Kozo who moved to Korea with his family, saying that he would return to his homeland.
And in Uchida there are only six households, and there are no oral traditions of kilns being used for firing pottery for over 200 years. In particular, when pottery making was at its peak, there were so many people living in the area that even the workers alone numbered over 1,000, and even the people of Kuromuta admit that the area was more prosperous than Kuromuta.

Haisen Temple in Uchida Haisen Temple
There is a temple called Haisen Temple in the mountains in front of the Okuyama Torio area, but it is not known when it was founded or when it was returned to the Rokuo sect. , but it is only since a farmer picked up a copper statue of Fudo Myo-o and placed it in his home altar that the ruins of the abandoned temple have come to be known.

Shared wooden bowls
There are also some things in the Uchida village that are reminiscent of the traditions of the Korean people. Of course, they use pottery for their everyday tableware, but they also have a set of black lacquered tableware for guests, which is used for 22 people. The set includes bowls, soup bowls and plates, and they are used only for Shinto festivals and funerals in each family. If the lacquer peels off, they are re-lacquered and used again after a certain number of years. It is said that they are still preserved in the houses of the deceased. There is nothing else to note.

Types of Korean tombs types
Next, the ancient tombs of Koreans are mostly unmarked natural stones or small stone tombs piled up in a bun, and although there are some stone monuments for influential people with long sentences engraved in fine letters on the surface of thin flat stones, they are very rare because they are shallowly carved and can hardly be read now. Among them, there are some that use a completely Japanese-style square tower as the face of the deceased There are some that use a square tower, which is completely Japanese-style, as a symbol of the deceased, and the names of the various religious orders are engraved on the surface of the monument, which is no different from that of Japanese people, but it is said that if you dig up the ground, you will generally find more coffins.
In addition, there are nearly 200 manju-bochi (cylindrical burial mounds) on the small hill in front of the Uchida Otani temple. There are also a few Korean tombs on the neighboring land of the there are also a few Korean tombs in the neighboring area of the valley, and among them, the tomb of Yongjong is inscribed with the date of the 28th day of the third month of the fourth year of Genroku (1691). It seems that the person who inscribed the name of the sect from such a long time ago may have been a relative of the sect master.

Kuromuta’s Kora tomb
Next, there are also five or six tombs in the Kora tomb in Kuromuta that appear to be Korean, and among them is one called Genshō Shōgen, dated July 16th of the 6th year of Genroku (1693). This one uses the character for “sō” in the Buddhist name, so it seems to be more closely related to the aforementioned Ryūzō than the previous one. There is also a theory that the collapsed monument in the shape of a pagoda by the house of Koga in Uchida There is a collapsed monument in the shape of a pagoda next to the house of a certain Koga on the bank of the river, and there is a theory that this is the monument of a priest of the Shinshu sect, but after the Shinshu family had moved out, there was no reason to leave the monument of the Koga family, and it would be more appropriate to move it to Arita at the time of moving or in the following years.

The main branch of the Shinshu sect According to
this, the widow of Soden moved to Hekoba in Arita with over 900 people, and the scene of the move was like a fire that had gone out. There is a folk tale that the industry completely died out some 200 years ago, and considering the existence of the temple and the large number of Korean graves, it is thought that the origins of the family name Uchida must be in Arita.
In particular, the fact that there was a temple being a devotee of Buddhism, it is thought that the temple he built here must have been the Rinzai branch of the Kofuku-ji temple in Takeo. And then, after that, my confirmed my suspicions, and it was the epitaph of the wife of the founder of the Honganji sect, Soden, which I found in the grounds of the Honganji temple in Arita.

Epitaph of Hyakuba-sen
The name of the mother of Soden is unknown After the Goryeo Dynasty was conquered by the Japanese, the Goto family’s Lord Nobuhira ordered that the grave of the great priestess, who had been buried in the grounds of the temple, be moved to the temple grounds. Nobuhira (Lord Nobuhira) ordered that the grave of the great priestess, who had been buried in the grounds of the temple, be moved to the temple grounds. The temple monks now call him Shintaro. He died on October 29th, 1618, and was given the Buddhist name Tenshitsu Sōden. His mother, Kuniko, was a virtuous woman who gave up her own life to care for him. After that, he came to Uchida from Hieba, where he worked on the Kurokamiyama hill, where he found a clay deposit that he called “heaven-sent clay”. From then on, he lived in Kōrai, where he was greatly respected by the local people. He died on March 10th, 1656, at the age of 96. at the age of 96. Her face was beautiful and her ears hung down to her shoulders. Her great-grandson Tokunaga called her “Hyakuba-sen” (the Hundred-Year-Old Woman). Her great-grandmother was the first generation of the Izumisawa family. Her grandfather, Heizaemon, was a Buddhist priest named Soukai. He was a great man and had two sons and seven daughters. Her uncle, Soukou, had a son named Togou. Her father, Tankan, had three sons. three great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. Was this not due to the good deeds of our ancestors? The descendants of Sen and Kiyoshi, who were ordained as priests, have erected a stone monument to commemorate their achievements. May the clouds of hindrance be dispelled and the moon shine brightly, and may the descendants of Sen and Kiyoshi flourish and prosper.

Houei 2 March 10th, 1950
Yutoku Shiho, the successor to the Buddhist priest Genkai, respectfully
As you can see from the above, the article “Then he abandoned the rice field and came to Uchida” was found in the inscription on the monument, and the Uchida theory in the Soden version was confirmed. This monument was erected by the great-grandson, Jissen was erected by his great-grandson Jissen on the 50th anniversary of the death of Hyakubasen, and the epitaph also refers to Hyakubasen as the founder of Arita-Sarayama (without specifically mentioning Uchida), so there is no way to avoid the fact that he was embellishing his own ancestors.

Pottery-making by the remaining people
The epitaph mentioned above, which refers to Uchida as Ryu temple name was inscribed on a tombstone erected in 1691, it is likely that this was the case for those who remained here when the potters of this area all moved to Arita during the Kan’ei era, or that the Korean potters from the neighboring village moved here and continued to make pottery.
In general, the old pottery of Kuromuta ware is mostly monochromatic glazed wares such as tenmoku, while the old kiln products of Uchida are superior in their brushwork-like technique.

Uchida Oya’s brushwork
In particular, Uchida Oya’s brush marks are made up of a combination of eight or nine different brush marks on a single large plate, and the white glaze outer rim, yellow glaze, purple glaze, and reddish-brown glaze are used to good effect to create a symmetrical effect with the base glaze and colored glaze.
Among these, there is a large bowl two shaku in diameter that is made from brown clay a large bowl two shaku in diameter, which has been decorated with white glaze and then, while it was still wet, brushed with a horizontal line of armor pattern, and on the bottom has a five-pointed chrysanthemum pattern. There is also a large water bowl with a wave brush pattern in light yellow on top of the white glaze, and blue medicine has been poured on top. A bowl with a rim of candy glaze brush marks on the rim, and the top has horizontal comb marks. There is also a bowl with a rim of three-centimeter-high bowl with a two-tiered floral Mishima pattern around the rim, and a small number of cranes depicted in the interior, with their beaks and legs painted in iron.
There is also a large water bowl is decorated with a comb pattern, and the bottom is decorated with a pattern of armor. There are also bowls with the same design in dark green glaze, decorated with a brush pattern in white, and bowls with a flower design in chestnut glaze. There is also a bowl with a green glaze with a hand-applied glaze. There is also a bowl with a height of 24 cm with a design of a waterfowl painted in iron on a glaze of a dark purple color. pots are decorated with a bold wave pattern in white or yellowish-white glaze, and the beauty of the interlacing brush marks is skillfully expressed in all of them.

Uchida’s old kiln products
Also, Uchida’s Uchida’s old kiln ware has a bowl with a thin iron glaze, decorated with white and chestnut-colored rippled brush marks, and a decorative swirling brush mark and blue glaze in the interior. Or, there is a bowl with a dark brown glaze there is a bowl with a white slip and a wave brush pattern, and a dourakusuji pattern of the same glaze is drawn around the bottom, with gold-brown glaze running down from the rim. There is also a bowl with a chestnut-colored glaze and a white decorated with a wave pattern, and the bottom is decorated with a basket-weave pattern, and then covered with a dark green glaze.
There is also a sake bottle with a blue-tinged chestnut glaze and a rough iron drawing on top, and a thin brown glaze only on the mouth. There are also deep dishes with the same iron pattern on a gray glaze . In general, all of the large bowls mentioned above have small footrests and are unglazed. There are also some simple twisted monkeys about 3 inches in height, with gray glaze on the outside of the face and truly outstanding techniques for the eyes.

Kotouge
In addition, there are old kiln products by Uchida Kotouge There are also large plates with a dark gray glaze and white slip, on which several people in Korean dress have been skillfully carved. There is also a square dish with a rim decorated with pine needles and a sword tip, and a white glaze has been applied to the surface of a dish with a rim decorated with pine needles and a sword tip, and a white glaze has been applied to the surface of a dish with a rim decorated with pine needles and a sword tip, and a white glaze has been applied to the surface of a dish with a rim decorated with pine needles and a sword tip, and a white glaze has been applied to the surface of a dish with a rim decorated with pine needles and a sword tip, and a white glaze has been applied to the surface of a dish with a rim decorated with pine needles and a sword tip, and a white glaze has been applied to the surface of a dish with a rim decorated with pine needles and a sword tip, and a white glaze has been applied to the surface of there is a plate with a design of reeds, and there is a plate with a design of a brushstroke in iron glaze on a reddish brown glaze.
There is also a small plate with a design of a cat in iron glaze on a gray glaze, and there is a medium-sized plate with a design of waves in white on a chestnut glaze. There is also a small plate with a design of a cat in iron glaze on a gray glaze with a knotted iron cat motif, and there is also a similar item with a white wave brush pattern on the outside of the tenmoku ground chrysanthemum design, both of which have unglazed footrings. There is also a tenmoku tear-shaped flower vase and a tea bowl with a wave brush pattern on a light green glaze.

Kayano Tani
There are also similar gray glaze knotted iron cat motif There are also small plates with a gray glaze and a knot pattern, similar to those made by Kotouge, and some of these have a completely unglazed back. There are also small plates with a thin brown glaze and a chrysanthemum-shaped rim, and shaped lily and a 24cm plate with a lead-colored clay body and white brush marks. There is also a 21cm flower vase with black spots on a brown background and a 21cm sake bottle with a blue-brown glaze and white brush marks. There are also tea bowls with a tenmoku glaze and others that are all unglazed.

Iro-no-kiya
Iro-no-kiya Many of the old wares from the Koya kiln are grey or light brown glazed plates and bowls, and the foot ring is wide and unglazed. There are also glazed wares that look like straw mats, but all of them are extremely simple compared to the aforementioned items, which were made using the Mieki firing method. In short, Uchida’s skillful wares should be regarded as the main types of Uchida’s work.

Rusty Valley
There are some old wares from the Hirotakara area of Kuromuta, such as small, blue-grey glazed round dishes with a rim and a small, deep dish with a rim and four vertical lines on the bottom, and some with a rim and four vertical lines on the bottom. There are also some with the same glaze and a rim with four vertical lines on the rim. The underside is almost unglazed, and many of them are fired with a four-eyed pattern on the bottom. There are also large tea bowls with rims, and the marks of bamboo rods are clearly visible on the unglazed, high-fired rims.

Motohara
There are also old kiln products include small flower vases with a thin yellow glaze and a blue medicine-based design of bamboo leaves, and also vases with a thin yellow glaze and a rim with a tenmoku glaze. There are also flat bowls with a thin yellow glaze and a design of grass painted on the bottom , and there are also tea bowls with a cat design in iron-painted Tenmoku glaze or gray glaze, and small square dishes with four three-dimensional figures painted in iron on the rim in candy glaze. There are also small square dishes with the same shape and rimmed in white makeup on a chestnut glaze , or there is a 7-inch shallow bowl with a dark brown glaze and a white rippled brush pattern, and all of them are unglazed and high-fired, especially in a snake-eye pattern.
There are also dishes with a rim and foot rim in blue-gray glaze with white brush marks, and dishes with a brownish-yellow base and white slip with blue and iron glazes, all of which are fired with a bottom glaze. There are also unglazed sake bottles with a white slip applied to a chestnut-colored glaze and white lines drawn around them, and small incense burners with three legs made of blue porcelain.

Old Kilnware from Kuromuta
In addition to the above, there are also items called “old Kuromuta ware”, such as a black tenmoku iron-glazed teapot and a black-glazed bowl, and a deep dish with a yellow brushstroke pattern on a flesh-colored glaze. There is also a tenmoku tea bowl with a snail pattern on a flesh-colored glaze, and a salt dish with a swirling brushstroke pattern on a steel-colored glaze. There are also black tenmoku vases with ears, bowls with a light brown glaze, and sake bottles with a simple design of chrysanthemums in a light yellow glaze.
There are also small sake bottles with a light brown glaze and a light yellow brush pattern on the top and bottom. There are also sake bottles with a dark gray glaze and a white brush pattern on the rim, and a tenmoku glaze on the rim. There are also sake bottles and tea bowls with a translucent white high-relief curved pattern on top of a light brown or tenmoku glaze. There is also a shallow bowl with a six-centimeter rim decorated with a wave pattern in a mixture of reddish-brown and light yellow, and the inside is decorated with a snakelike pattern.

Hiro-Koma and Nanamagari
In the old kiln products from the Hiro-Koma family, there are many small plates with a gray glaze that have been fired repeatedly. There are also brown-glazed tea bowls, all of which have a wide unglazed area at the top. Many of the old ware from the Shichimachi kiln in the same area are small plates with an amber glaze, and some of these are painted with a wide iron glaze in green, while others have various decorative designs made with iron cat’s-eye. In addition, the rims of all the Tenmoku tea bowls and other wares are wide and unglazed.

Gion-shita
The old kiln products from Gion-shita are mostly egg-colored glazed tea bowls, and some of them have a brushstroke pattern of white glaze on top, while others have a brown glaze. There are also tea bowls with a Tenmoku glaze on a light rust-colored base, and all of them have a wide unglazed foot ring.

Yamasaki Goryome and Kogori Ko
The old kilns of the Yamazaki Goryomei ware are large plates with a gray glaze and a thin iron glaze that were fired in a very small kiln and are unglazed. The old kiln products of the Ko-Kou ware are all unglazed, with gray or light brown glaze on the plates and bowls.

Udo no Tani
Among the old kiln products from Udo no Tani, there are sake bottles with a purple glaze running around the middle of the body, on top of a white slip, and there are also large grey-glazed tea bowls with clumsy tortoises and other designs. There are also tea jars with tenmoku glaze and light green celadon ware, and in particular, there are kiln-altered wares with cinnabar showing through the surface of the candy glaze.

Ino-no-koba
There is a village called Matawari (with 27 households) about half a ri away from Uchida, and on the eastern hill of its embankment are the remains of the old kilns of Ino-no-koba. The remains include black-glazed, tenmoku-glazed, or blue-and-brown-glazed tea bowls with high rims that are spiraled, and there are also unglazed small bowls with white stripes as decorative motifs, small plates with a border of tenmoku-glaze and gray-glaze, and unglazed small bowls with a border of tenmoku-glaze and gray-glaze. There are also unglazed small tea bowls with a speckled tea glaze, and sake bottles with kana characters written in iron glaze on a brown glaze, and thin blue porcelain poured around the rim.

A true study of the Monohara ware
A true study of the Monohara ware is impossible, as the works of a single old kiln have a period of time, and they are buried in places that span several generations or even several tens of generations, so it is impossible to thoroughly examine them by only looking at the surface or by digging a few feet down. Furthermore, in the case of objects buried in deep layers in places such as valleys, even in a single work, it is impossible not to see significant changes in progress and style over the course of a lifetime.
Therefore, in order to carry out this fragment research in an orderly fashion, it is impossible to grasp the historical truth unless we cut the accumulated objects into sections and examine the fragments exposed on the fault line, starting from the bottom.
This is not only a large project that requires time and money, but in the present day, many of them have already been removed for cultivation, or have become roads or housing areas, and there are not a few places where they have been firmly packed under factories.

The opening of kilns is unknown
Even in the case of the opening of kilns, it is unclear whether they were opened by Japanese who had come from other mountains, or by second or third generation Koreans, and even in the case of the Karatsu edition, there are very vague articles on this, but there are also cases where the kilns were opened by Koreans and then passed into the hands of Japanese. Also, there are no cases of Japanese potters’ kilns being taken over by later-arriving Koreans. As it is not possible to find out the details of this now, it has been necessary to stop writing about it at a level where nothing is clear.

The raw materials for Takeuchi porcelain
In the area around the back of the small pass in Uchida, Otani, the Mukai house in Kuromuta, Gozu-yaki, Maruo, and the valley in Uto, they fired porcelain with underglaze designs on the surface of the pottery. Although it is said that Kuwai fired relatively large amounts of porcelain, even the fragments of this have been lost. There is a local legend that the raw materials for this porcelain were mainly the stones from Hachiya in the Uchida area and the stones from Ougiyama in the Kuromuta area, but it is not known whether other stones from other areas were also used.

The method of firing in a sheath-shaped kiln
The sheath-shaped kiln is a method of firing in which the vessel is placed inside a sheath-shaped outer covering and fired, so that the flames do not directly touch the vessel but burn it indirectly.
In addition, the body of the pot, which is the outer vessel, has a small round hole in it, as if to show concern that the heat might not be able to penetrate through it. The Arita box-shaped pots also have this hole at first, and it is likely that this was either passed on from here or that it was passed on from Arita.

Takeuchi porcelain
The Takeuchi porcelain that was fired has some early-style pieces with a yellowish tinge, but overall it is completely fired. There are also pieces with chrysanthemum designs that look like they were drawn by a child, and pieces with a blue-green glaze that look like they could be either orchids or grass.
It seems that in the early days of white porcelain, it was highly prized even if it was only dotted with indigo. On the other hand, there are also elegant landscapes and other authentic patterned pieces in the orderly line drawings.
Among the pieces of porcelain from the Kogei area, there are some unusual fragments decorated with Mishima in chestnut-colored pigment. Furthermore, the fragments of this Buna porcelain are not all warped, but rather they present the appearance of having been carelessly folded. If we extrapolate from this, we cannot help but wonder how many pieces of this Buna porcelain were actually completed as finished products.
From what I have seen, the bowls inside the box are beautifully fired, but they are all warped and not finished. Therefore, while they are sufficient for the purpose of appreciating the color of the fragments collected from the ruins, they have no qualifications as containers. The author regrets that he has not yet encountered a finished container by Takeuchi.

The difficulty of making porcelain
Earthenware and pottery can be made using clay that contains iron, and fired at low temperatures in an oxidizing flame, but porcelain requires a material that does not contain iron, and even the slightest color spot is not allowed on its pure white glaze. Furthermore, firing at high temperatures in a reducing flame requires a high level of skill, so if the raw materials are not hard enough to withstand these high temperatures, the result will be warped pottery.

Kiln-glaze and underglaze red
In contrast, in the case of pottery, there are some wares that are prized for the distortion that occurs as a result of firing, and wares that produce speckles or different colors are also highly prized as kiln-glazed wares. In the case of his old-style porcelain, there are some pieces that, due to the firing reaction of the copper contained in the clay, take on a rare red color, and these are highly prized as “glaze-red” pieces.
If it were to appear with large spots of the familiar blue-green of gosu, it would be seen as a monster, just like a face, and everyone would be disgusted. Therefore, when the time comes when it is easy to produce vermilion glaze, the accidental underglaze red glaze of the past will be seen as a sign of immature technique and will be worthless.

Strange Phenomena in Aisho Pottery
In the case of pottery, this is especially true, and even ugly women with ghostly faces that appear on the glaze surface are treasured as the work of a skilled potter, , they were placed in paulownia boxes and taken to Kyoto, where they were admired by court nobles and wealthy merchants, and some even became famous as treasures of the nobility. And even if the same tea bowl is owned by a commoner, if it becomes a household item of a certain family, it is not uncommon for it to be highly valued.
On the contrary, even among the same kiln-fired companions, those tea bowls that are simply and satisfactorily fired are left out as being ordinary, and they end up being roughly handled by bandits and farmers, and become containers for tea made from firewood or for sake, and they end up being thrown away without even being repaired by a lacquerer if they get damaged. In this way, I cannot help but say that it presents a strange phenomenon that expresses the resentment of having been born with a disability.

The difficulty of making porcelain
When it comes to porcelain, even the tiniest dent as small as a rabbit’s hair is frowned upon, but in pottery, a dent as small as a fingertip is made and it is appreciated as a dimple. If it were porcelain, it would of course be selected as one of the best pieces and sold for a high price, but as it is, it is sold as a cheap piece. There is a great difference in the appreciation of pottery and porcelain, and this also proves that porcelain is more difficult to make than pottery.

Pottery and Japanese-style decoration
When it comes to the harmony of Japanese-style decoration, there is a certain art to the application of pottery in vases, floor ornaments, etc., and in particular, even if porcelain is decorated with several colors to make it gorgeous, there is a tendency for the flowers in the vase to look inferior to the simple, elegant blue and white. Therefore, from this perspective, the body color of earthenware with a subdued taste, or a single-colored glaze with poor decorative design, or even a rare find with a leprosy-like skin, have a very good contrast.

Transgressive taste
Is it possible to say that the transgressive taste is a common characteristic of evolved people? His goldfish-shaped lantern has a protruding belly like a blowfish, and it is even more awkward than the way it swims with its three-piece skirt trailing behind it. and its brilliant scarlet color, how beautiful it must be, but even so, the grotesque variety with black and white spots is prized, and when it comes to being valued at several hundred yen, we as laymen cannot help but be confused by aesthetics. Needless to say, it is more possible to express this perverse appreciation and aesthetic freedom with pottery than with porcelain.
After all, tableware must be pure and clean to the point of being boring. Even with pottery, there are no exceptions to the rule that white makeup must be applied and decorated with indigo painting, but if the natural texture is black, then white makeup and body art will inevitably look poor. For example, if you are served by a waitress at a café with a Tenmoku face or a waitress with a scar on her hand, you won’t be able to enjoy the taste of champagne or the famous Hakutsuru sake. Furthermore, if the bottom of the bowl or plate is made with a layered pattern or a snail pattern, it is no wonder that it is not popular with the fastidious Japanese people.

Porcelain as tableware
The birth of Arita-yaki, which created an era of porcelain as tableware with its pure, white, transparent quality, was a major revolution in the world of pottery. In order to keep up with the atmosphere of the times and stay alive in the pottery industry, it was absolutely necessary to switch to the production of white porcelain, and the Koreans living in this area must have learned the production method from Arita and, by mixing local raw materials, finally succeeded in producing this porcelain.

The era of white porcelain praise
At the time, the many pottery mountains in the surrounding areas, which were dominated by Arita porcelain, greatly envied it, and the leaders of each village encouraged the production of porcelain, and made the artisans explore all the mountains and fields in their own territories , but there was no natural porcelain clay, so they gradually adjusted the stones they had and completed them using the Arita method, but all of them were light gray, soft porcelain. Some people colluded with the people of Arita and secretly transported the raw materials from Izumiyama to make white porcelain. When the Nabeshima clan heard of this, they ordered strict control of the Izumiyama porcelain mine.

Control of the white porcelain raw materials
At the time, the feudal clan only allowed the search for Izumiyama raw materials in some of the pottery mountains in other territories that were related to their own territory, but there were restrictions on the quality and quantity, and the materials taken from other territories were of a lower quality or, as they were commonly called, “Nare” stones. However, when people began to select only the high-quality parts of these low-quality stones and make surprisingly good pottery, there was a great deal of debate in the domains about whether or not to remove these low-quality stones.
In the days before the methods of mixing and forming porcelain clay, feldspar, quartz, etc., were known, it is easy to imagine the painstaking efforts of Takeuchi Hanjin, who attempted to make porcelain despite the softness of the clay. Even while other kilns could only produce a mouse-colored glaze, this kiln was able to produce a pure white glaze, and it is clear that the skill of the Korean potters here was superior. , and being a crooked cripple with a weak constitution, he was unable to help his family in any way, and it is reminiscent of a man who married a beautiful woman who spent her whole life in bed.

Soden passes away
As soon as Shintaro Soden started the pottery business here, he first refined green tea bowls and incense burners, and presented the tea bowls to the feudal lord Nobutaka, and the incense burners to the priest of the Kofukuji temple, as mentioned in the inscription above. It is not difficult to imagine that he would have presented his superior works to Umeji on numerous occasions. And the fact that he demonstrated his superior skills in several different areas is confirmed by the above-mentioned fragments. At the time, Uchida’s pottery was very famous as “Shintaro-yaki”, but it was after his death that he began to make white porcelain. Thus, Soden passed away on October 29th, 1618 (two years after Ri Sam-pei discovered the porcelain mine at Arita Izumiyama).
While the widow was helping her son, Hiraizomon, to run the family pottery business, the times were such that they were urged to switch to porcelain production, and it is certain that he and his mother made great efforts in their research.

The founding period of Takeuchi porcelain
However, despite their repeated attempts, it was impossible to produce a usable product. The production of Takeuchi porcelain began in 1629, as stated by Imamura Sanenori, who was then inspecting the mountains of Hizen. This theory is true, and it was 12 years after the death of Soden.
Thus, having realized the kindness of the lord in forgiving their many failures with soft materials, the Uchida family made the great decision to move to Arita with the permission of the lord, Shigenori (the son of Ienobu). there were no doubt negotiations between the domain and the Takeo domain, and as it was before the great culling of potters, it is likely that the domain allowed them to move there directly for tax collection reasons, and it is thought that this was done around 1670, a year or two after the porcelain trial production.

Moving from Uchida to Arita
The widow left Uchida, where she had lived for so long, and moved to Hekokoba in Arita, taking with her Hira Sakumon and 96 other family members. It can be seen that she was no ordinary woman.
Like those who held a high position as porcelain manufacturers in Arita after that, his name is inscribed in the mausoleum at Hieko-ba Kanno-iwa alongside that of the Kanegae family.

Hyakuba Senju dies
Thus, this woman passed away at the age of 96 on March 10th, 1656 (four years after the death of Ri Sam-pyong). The tombstone in the grounds of the Hōon-ji temple on the same site is called the Hyakuba Sen tombstone, and is the same as the one with the inscription mentioned above, the tomb of Manryō Myōtai Dōba.
The lineage of the Fukami family is as follows (see Fukami lineage).

The third son succeeded to the head family
The fifth generation Ichiro drew the first son Heizaemon and the second son Uemon, and the third son succeeded to the head family as the sixth generation Ichiro, and it is understood that he was a famous potter. During the reign of the 6th Ichiro, the family was commissioned to make pottery for the imperial court on an ad hoc basis, and the order form from that time is as follows.

Item
Item number
Payment to be made by Kaneko
Takatsukasa Residence, Suzuki Sakumon Captain’s seal
Hizen Arita Sarayama
Shinkai Ichiro-dono

Hiuraku Dance
There is a dance called the Hiuraku Dance that has been performed in the Uchida and Kurokuma areas since ancient times. On the 15th day of the third month of the lunar calendar, the men, women, young and old of each family prepare rice and sake, and then they tie strips of paper with their names written on them to two large bamboo poles and carry them up the mountain that lies between the two villages. old field, and they would play shamisen and drums and dance and sing to their hearts’ content. In later years, however, they stopped holding the festival because they started planting trees on the mountain.

Korean folk music
This festival is thought to be a variation of the Korean harvest festival, and in Korea, on the 15th day of the 8th month, the first ears of grain harvested that year are offered, and a banquet is held to celebrate the bright moon of that night. It is said that the music and dance of the festival are similar to those of the Japanese harvest festival. On the 15th of the first month, they also repair and clean the tombs of their ancestors, and it is said that on this day, too, a grand banquet is held and various ceremonies are performed, in addition to the performance of the wind and string music.
It is said that the Korean people who had come to this foreign country far from their homeland occasionally held banquets on this mountain to dispel their homesickness they held a banquet on the mountain here, and performed their signature dance, the ‘Pungnak’. This dance was later passed down to later generations as the ‘Huirak’ dance.

Toruma Maruta
There may be some connection with the fact that there are place names here that are the same as those in Arita, such as Maruo and Saiwa. This Saiwa Hirano, Kikuta Toruma is making various elegant wares, including tea bowls with a spiral brush pattern on the candy glaze that reveals a comb-like ripple pattern, and tea bowls with a spiral brush pattern on the inside of the chestnut-colored glaze.

Kuromuta Kuromuta’s current products
At present, many of Kuromuta’s products are low-quality items, and the annual production value is 10,000 yen. The products include yuba, flowerpots, tea sets, and shallow bottles, which are made in Shinohe, and rokakuyaki (a type of pottery) such as flowerpots, sesame roasters, and placenta jars, which are made in Hachinohe. the raw materials are prepared from the soil of Wakagi Village Headquarters and the soil of Sankenzaka in Nakadori Village, etc.

In the west corner
Kuromuta’s kilns Maruta Daishiro, Eguchi Daikichi, Maruta Matsuzo, Maruta Tomojiro, etc. opened kilns in the western corner of Maneno (145 houses at a distance of 67 to 156 chō from Uchida and 156 to 167 chō from Mikasaka Station), and manufactured flowerpots, mortar , sake jugs, etc., but the kiln was closed down, and 20 years later, Hirosuke Eguchi from the same area reopened it. Five years later, it was closed down again, but then Yasuichi Kinoshita reopened it, but in 1929 it was completely closed down.

Yasudahara
Takeshi In the village of Tatara in Uchimura Mateno (one and a half ri from Uchida, more than two ri from Mikamizaka Station, with 70 households), there are the remains of two old kilns, in the Yasudahara and Nishidake areas. fragments are mostly glazed with tortoiseshell glaze, or with blue-brown glaze or brown glaze with iron powder spots. Many of them are unglazed, and have a new moon-shaped conch shell base. Also, on this mountain, the god of the mountain is worshipped as the god of Korea.

Nishidake
Nishidake is like pottery that is specialized in jars, and under the cypress forest at the foot of the mountain, there are many fragments of the large-scale production of the time scattered about. Furthermore, below that is the tomb of the local lord, Saigaku Iki no Kami.

Tataragama mountain
The pottery that is made today in the area known as Taro’s Pottery Mountain is made in an area about half a ri closer to the Momo River in the north. The types of pottery made here include , flowerpots, mortars, kneading bowls, steaming jars (probably in the ancient style), etc., and it is said that the kiln was established over a hundred years ago, with an annual production of around 3,000 yen.

Kawafuru Kiln
Wakaki There are no kilns left in the old kiln area of Kawakura, which is located in the mountains behind the potter’s house, and there are no longer any kilns in the area, including the kilns known as “Miagari no O,” “Tobetsu,” “Kaguchidani,” “Shoujinyama,” “Kawadani-sai,” and “Kawadani-migi.” Kawakura is located one ri and twenty cho from Takahashi Station. is one ri and twenty cho from Takahashi Station, and in the old days it was the territory of the Shibue Uma no Tō clan, but when the nanny plotted to make the youngest son, Kōshin (whose mother was the daughter of the Hata clan, who ruled Kishitake Castle), the heir, the castle of Hikokuzan was attacked and taken by Goto Sumiaki of Takeo , but the chief retainer, Toshiaki Mawatari, the Kai no Kami, was in the Shimomura no Tate and ruled over this area, but on the 26th of the 12th month of the 12th year of the Tenbun era, Junmyo’s army came and attacked, and Toshiaki was killed in battle on the Tosa mountain, and from then on it came to belong to the control of the Fujiwara clan.

The back of the earthenware storehouse and Miage-no-o
The kiln called “Miyagoya-no-ura” was a specialized old kiln for making pottery, but it was destroyed many years ago, and even now, few people know where the kiln site is. The old kiln products from Miage-no-o include gray-glazed and amber-glazed tea bowls, as well as chestnut-glazed, white-brush-marked, unglazed deep plates. Of course, the representative works of Kawakoyaki yaki is represented by the 34 kilns in the valley of the kilns, and there is a monument to Toshiaki Mawatari at the end of the road. If you go up the mountain about three chō (about 100 meters) from there, you will reach the left kiln in the valley of the kilns. there is a large kiln ruin that can be seen about 30 ken up the hill, and there are countless fragments scattered around it.

Yamanaka-gama no Tani-hira
The most common type is a large plate with a white slip and a carelessly applied iron glaze, with blue and gold-brown pigment sprinkled on top. There are also water jars with a white slip , and there is a water jar with pine trees painted in blue on the white slip, and the trunk and branches have been skillfully painted in iron. There is also a seven-inch plate with a small chrysanthemum pattern painted in iron on the bottom, and a dark green glaze has been poured over it.
There is also a large plate with a wave pattern painted in iron on the white slip , and there is a large plate with a wave comb pattern scratched on the white slip and an iron-painted outer dark blue glaze. There is also a large plate with a wave brush pattern applied to the same white slip, and a blue glaze applied to the bottom of a willow cat iron-painted design, which is then overglazed with a hachimeme pattern and fired. Or, there is a large plate with a green bowl with a chestnut brown glazed green bowl with a white, finely-patterned wave brushstroke design around the rim, and a large plate with blue glaze poured into it, or a large, eight-centimeter deep plate with a dark green glaze and a gold-brown glaze around the rim with a flower comb pattern on the bottom.
Also, a one-shaku-one-sun deep bowl with a brownish-red glaze with white slip, and a 3.3 cm deep dish with a green glaze and blue designs, as well as a large dish with a light brown glaze and a dark brown body with a blue glaze. There is also a large dish with a light brown glaze and a white slip, and a design of orchid flowers painted on top. Or there is a water bowl with a 3 cm diameter and a lion’s ear attached, with a brownish black body and a scattered pattern of ancient and chrysanthemum designs, as well as a 4 cm vase with a lion’s ear attached and a body with a green glaze and no glaze below the waist. , there is a water bowl with a lion’s ear attached, with ancient writings and chrysanthemum patterns scattered on the green glaze of the blackish-brown clay body, and there is also a vase with a four-inch iron glaze ear attached, with the part below the waist unglazed. In addition, there is a mortar here with a true bottom that has been scratched with a comb pattern.
In addition, there are small plates with iron glaze There are also small plates with iron glaze and thin brown glaze, and nine-rimmed plates that have been iron-painted by rubbing them horizontally. There are also small plates with two-leaf iron cats, all of which are unglazed below the waist. There are also 6-inch jars with tenmoku glaze and 6-inch sake bottles with black tea glaze and tenmoku rim. This area is known for its black Muta Nabeta is a mountain area, and there are many similarities in style with the Takeuchi kilns.

The Yamanaka kiln Taniishi
Taniyama’s Taniyama-gama produced large plates with a brown base and white slip, on which water plants were drawn in iron and then overglazed with a light blue glaze. The style of the pottery is exactly the same as that of the Taniyama-gama. appears to have been much smaller than the Saza kiln in terms of scale.

Yakigamine Maekama
Asahimura Kawagami Yakagamine in the village of Shigechō, Asahimura, is a highland village of about 38 households, located about a mile from Takahashi Station. The old kiln site here, located by the side of the road, is exclusively for jars, and fragments of pots and mortars have been found. The clay is brown or lead-colored, and some of them are fired hard like stoneware. From this place, a bowl with a spiral-shaped foot and a high footring was discovered with an egg-colored glaze, but it is necessary to consider whether it is a product of this old kiln or not.

The kiln at the back of Yakedamine Kiln
The kiln at the back of Yagamine is on a mountain adjacent to the valley of the Kawa-koyō kiln, and the style of the pottery produced there is also very similar. There is a large plate with a white slip on a grayish-brown ground, decorated with a single-line pattern around the bottom, and a decorative brushstroke pattern on the outside. There is also a large plate with a chestnut-colored ground with white sword-tip Mishima-te, and there is a large plate with a light purple underside and white rippled design on the inside.
Or, there is a large plate with a brown clay body with dark vertical and white stripes on the inside, and a dark green glaze on the inside and outside. there is a large plate with a brown glaze, with a thin purple rim and white brush marks, and a gold-brown glaze on the inside. There is also a water bowl with a dark green glaze on the inside, a wave pattern on the same-colored glaze on the back, and a decorative design in ultramarine glaze on the bottom.

Porcelain not yet made Theory
As I have described above, there is no doubt that the pottery of the Takeuchi school is extremely excellent in terms of its technical beauty, but it belongs to an era when porcelain was still in its infancy. However, looking only at the glaze, without considering the date of its founding, it is too hasty to say that it is like the white porcelain of our country.
If we were to obtain satisfactory porcelain using the materials here were to obtain satisfactory porcelain using the local materials, it is worth considering why 960 potters would abandon their second home, where they had lived for over 40 years, and move to the Hekoba area of Arita.
Furthermore, the birthplace of his success in the production of Takeuchi porcelain, is an absurd and groundless theory, so I will take this opportunity to try to explain the origins of his success and provide a reference for the general public.

Gorōdayu Shouzu
According to the old historical records, in the eighth year of the Emperor Go-Kashiwabara’s reign (1511), a priest named Keigo from Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto, who was traveling to Ming China as a messenger for Ouchi Yoshihiro, was accompanied by a man named Ito Gorodayu Noriyuki from the village of Oguchi in the Nishi-Kuro district of Ise Province , a man from the village of Oguchi in Ise Province’s Nishi-Kuro County, followed him and went to Jingdezhen, where he spent two years learning the art of porcelain making. He returned to Japan in the same year. brought back from China was the first white porcelain to be made in Japan, and it was inscribed with the name of Gorōdayu Shōzu or Wu Shōzu.

Later Shōzu theory
According to the later theory, it was actually Gorōdayu, the grandson mentioned above, who went to Ming China in April 1594 at the age of 18, and returned to Japan in 1616 at the age of 40 after 23 years in China. and then produced porcelain, and died on May 16th, 1663 (1663) at the age of 87. Compared to the previous theory, there is a difference of over 100 years.

Difficulties on the road
and what is Jingdezhen, the only place in China at that time where porcelain was made? It was in Xixing County, Fuliang County, in the Roushoufu of Jiangxi Province. it was originally a government-run kiln under the protection of the Ming Dynasty, and the production methods were kept extremely secret, so that it was not easy for foreigners to enter the area.
Even so, to get there , it was a difficult journey that took several months, even with the protection of the garrison, as it was necessary to travel from Zhejiang via the Yangtze River, cross the Poyang Lake from Hukou, and then travel up the Ruchu River to finally reach Jingdezhen. However, in the year 424 in 1642, it is impossible not to wonder how the foreigners managed to sneak into the town.
Also, it is unclear whether Gorota It is unclear whether he had any experience in pottery making, but the porcelain manufacturing method, which was considered to be extremely difficult at the time, was only studied for two years in a foreign country where he could not communicate, and direct research was impossible, so it is unlikely that he could have completely mastered it. Furthermore, in 1530, the year of Kyouroku In 1530, the Ming Dynasty had already banned Japanese people from traveling to China.

While engaged in war with the Ming Dynasty and, according to later accounts, he was only about 18 years old when he defied the national ban and traveled to China, even though he was not part of the official mission to Tang China. Furthermore, Hideyoshi was at war with Korea during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. people, who are not even of the same nationality, are not even allowed to enter the government-run kilns, so how could he have been able to learn everything he needed to know? And then, when he stayed on to learn the techniques, twenty-three years gradually became a long time.

The example of Kagekatsu’s visit to Song China Example
Kato Kagesada of Seto also went to China to learn the Nan-shu underglaze blue and white (which was probably a type of stoneware glazed with a blue underglaze) technique, but he was ordered to open a kiln there and, while he was firing the pieces he was unable to fulfill his mission, and it is said that he returned to Japan after five or six years without having achieved his goal, having finally completed his research into the clay and glaze used in Chinese tea caddies (which were actually condiment caddies). In later years, Kouta Goto of Kutani is said to have been extremely suspicious of the theory of the Chinese influence, and even in the present day, it is not something that can be casually entered into, even if it is a private factory.
Next, there are those who say that after returning to Japan, Goro-dayu stopped in Hizen and founded the porcelain of Arita, and in particular, if you look at the text in the appendix of the pottery study that forms the origin of this false story, it is as follows.

There was no production of underglaze blue and white porcelain in Japan before the time of Irikiyama Goro-dayu. Goro-dayu was from Matsuzaka in Ise, and after going to Ming China, he learned the art of porcelain making in the province of Wu. He returned to Japan with the knowledge of the blue and white porcelain technique, and Goro-dayu, who had a house with a gable roof in Wu, returned to Japan in the 8th year of the Shoutoku era (the 10th year of the Eisei era) of the Ming Dynasty. There is a farewell poem by Li Chunting of the Ming Dynasty in the Guilin Manroku, and this poem also appears in the Rinko Shosho.
Li Chunting’s poem: Farewell to Goro-dayu, who has returned to Japan
With respect, I present this gift of silk and brocade to the gods.
Looking back, I see the distant islands of Fusan, and the ships of the three Buddhas.
The boatman is returning with a fresh supply of sake from the Four Bright Mountains.
The king is enjoying his leisure time.
This book is kept in the Ise Yamada Jingu-ji Temple.
If we look at this, it seems that the story of the transfer of the Enshu family to Ise is probably a myth. When the Goro-dayu returned to Ise, he tested the fire in the area of Arita, which is close to the Ise area. The fire was so strong that he started to make pottery in the same area. and that they began to make pottery in the same place. The pottery made in the Sarayama area is white with indigo designs, and the clay is similar to that used for the production of Koshiki ware. The designs are similar to those of the famous pottery produced in the Koto and Kichijo areas, and the pottery made in Imari are made in Japan, and are just like those from China. The number of years has passed, and it has become old and worn, so it is not written with a name. However, the ones made in Arita are written with a name, and they are handed down to later generations.

Shouzu and Arita
As I have written above, they did not even consider it worth looking at, and originally, the Arita Sarayama area was a deep mountain valley where even lumberjacks were rare. Later story In the second year of Genna, when Gorodayu is said to have returned to Japan, Ri Sampei discovered natural porcelain ore in this deep mountain, and for the first time in Japan, porcelain was created. , what was the reason that the former Goro-dai came to this deep mountain? Also, when the latter Goro-dai returned to Japan and immediately discovered the raw materials in Arita and created porcelain, there is no record of him meeting Ri Sam-pei or any other folklore.

Traces of the auspicious traces
Anyway, if the later Goro-daiyuu did indeed come to the Arita region, he must have left no traces whatsoever during the 47 years of his life that followed. there is not even a single legend to be found about Goro Daimyo in connection with the opening of the Arita porcelain kilns, and even when the author visited the mountains of Hizen on this occasion, he did not even catch a whiff of anything to do with Goro Daimyo and porcelain manufacture.

Unfounded exaggerated claims
However, recently, there have been people who have put forward the theory that there were founders of Japanese porcelain other than Ri Sanpei, and among them there are some who have gone so far as to claim that Arita porcelain was the first to be made, and others who have lamented the immaturity of research in this field , and yet, to have the courage to unashamedly advocate such a preposterous theory and attempt to make a name for oneself in this field is truly something to be admired, but it is also something that transcends discussion. there is no one who would take issue with it, as it is considered a great disgrace for anyone with common sense to listen to such a wild theory.

Takeuchi Porcelain and Shōzu
There is also a theory that the discovery of Takeuchi’s porcelain has confirmed the birthplace of Shōzu, but if this is the case, then the contradiction arises that Shōzu porcelain was never produced. In the first place, When you look at the porcelain that is called “Shōzu”, it is not only inferior to the products of the top potters of Arita, such as the late Okichi, Banjirō, and Kajū, but the beauty of its clay and blue-and-white patterns is something that soft-paste porcelain and other imitations cannot hope to match.

Arita Shourui
Therefore, the people who imitated them at the time were top-class potters such as Arita’s Kajyu, Kyoto’s Mokumei, Kouzan, or Seto’s Hanji. However, there were also many imitations made by second-rate potters in Arita.
And there are also some Arita-made pieces that are simply inscribed with the character “Zu” (瑞), such as those made by Gorotaibo, Gorotasuke, or Kazo Zu, or simply Zu. However, the Arita-made pieces are particularly meticulous in the way the patterns and designs are drawn on the background, and they lack the roughness of the real thing.
However it is said that the Shōzu-made pieces are more notable for their workmanship than their patterns.

Ordering from China
In short, it is said that the first person to acquire Shōzu-marked Chinese blue-and-white porcelain was a man called Gorōdai in Japan, who could not help but admire it, and when he ordered more from there, he had his own name added to the inscription.

Ordering from Kobori Enshu’s order
As another theory goes, it is worth listening to the observations of the tea masters such as Kobori Enshu, who ordered them from there.
When you look at the tea utensils that are rare and valuable today, many of them are warped or dented, such as tea bowls and water jars. it is hard to imagine that the Chinese tea masters of four hundred years ago would have produced such items, or that they would have imported only defective items. Originally, it is not possible to make dimples in porcelain at random. It is likely that these were made to order by Japanese tea masters.

Japanese Specially made for the Japanese
Because it is such a special order, it is not possible to completely deny it on the grounds that the same-name product is not recognized in the production area. Even with old Sometsuke imports, there are many that even Chinese people doubt in the present day.
That were specially made for the Japanese of the time, and the famous Shousui wares were also imported at that time, as were the early blue-and-white wares from China, which were inscribed with auspicious concepts such as the Fukuju inscription, as mentioned above, and there is nothing to be seen other than the fact that they were repeatedly ordered and produced with the name of Gorodayu added.
There are also stories of how some Chinese people There are also Japanese people who, having seen the Shōzu meiki that were brought to Japan, bought them, saying that they were the essence of Japanese ancient pottery, and there are also Japanese people who, having compared the imitations of Kakiemon ware produced in Dresden, Germany, at the time with the real thing, have imported them back to Japan and continue to cherish them. Also, in recent times , a Kyoto-Osaka area dealer bought Nabeshima plates in Saga City, and then they were photographed in Kyoto. Now, there are even people in Saga who believe that they are the real thing and are proud of them. I think that the Japanese are a little better than that.
Also, in the If you consider the fact that Arita ware is displayed in the museum of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto as ancient Chinese ware, it is clear that the opinions of experts in the field of ceramics are not easily determined. There is a lot of research and effort that goes into it, and it is also interesting to appreciate.

There is no connection with Hizen has nothing to do with Hizen ware
The author argues from a historical perspective that the auspiciousness of the soft porcelain of Takeuchi, as well as the origin of Arita ware, has nothing to do with the rabbit’s hair, and that the theory of the auspiciousness of Hizen porcelain, which occasionally arises, is a foolish person’s dream, and that it is a matter of putting down its delusion.

San no Maruyaki and Nabeshima Shigeyoshi
As mentioned above, Takeuchi’s porcelain was incomplete, but the San-no-maru-yaki produced in the Takeo Castle in later years was made from Amakusa stone, and was a perfect porcelain. was a trial firing of the Oniyayaki pottery at the San-no-maru (the current Takeo Junior High School) by the 28th lord of Takeo, Nabeshima Jūzaemon Shigeyoshi, in the first year of the Tempo era (1831).
Shigeyoshi was a pioneer in the application of Western civilization at the time, and his enterprising spirit led the domain’s lord Nabeshima Naomasa (Kanso) to select him, and in the fifth year of the Tempou era, he went to Nagasaki Takashima Shuho (Shirodayu Shunshin, died 1860 at the age of 69, posthumously awarded the fourth rank) was sent to Nagasaki to study Western gunnery and artillery. In the following year, he received full instruction in these skills and returned to the Hizen domain, where he became the founder of the Saga domain’s gunnery.

Porcelain from the third porcelain
Shigeyoshi researched the production of telegraph equipment, bricks, glass, etc., as well as guns and other weapons, in the Takeo Castle grounds. He also built a pottery kiln as a hobby, and attempted to manufacture porcelain using Amakusa materials. Oda-shi (Nishikawa-no-tou-mura) of the pottery mountain in the territory was called upon to take charge of the kiln, and various types of porcelain, including dishes, bowls and plates for telegraph equipment, were fired.
Among these there are also 9-centimeter deep lidded containers with crude peony designs in underglaze blue, but overall there are not a few excellent products among these miscellaneous wares. It is said that the ones kept in the baronial family and the ones received by the samurai of each clan are not for sale, and the ones that exist in the general public are very rare.

Gold pigment Attempts with gold pigment
There are also attempts with gold pigment on this porcelain. As with the research into the outstanding quality of Seienko, the preparation method was not quite right, and many failed pieces were left behind. the use of gold to color porcelain was first announced by Wagener of Germany in Arita in 1871, but it is also worth noting that the coloring was attempted 40 years before that.

The third Maru pottery
At the same time as the porcelain was being fired, pottery was also being made, and Eguchi Goro of Kuromuta in Takeuchi Village was called upon to take charge of it. Among the products were crucibles for chemical testing and stills (distillation equipment).
Shigeyoshi received the family headship from his father Shojun on the last day of the seventh month of the third year of the Tempo era, and retired at the age of 40 in the tenth year of the same era, and passed away at the age of 63 on the 27th of the 11th month of the second year of the Bunkyu era.

Features of the pottery to be researched
In short In the same way as Karatsu, the pottery industry in Takeuchi is also currently in a state of complete dormancy. Although we are now in the age of porcelain, there are still many things to be researched in terms of its wide-ranging applications, as porcelain has features that are difficult to distinguish from those of tea utensils and other daily-use pottery.

The spread of the tea aesthetic The spread of the tea ceremony
I hear that there are many people in Western countries who are fond of Japanese culture, and if this is true, then the tea ceremony and the appreciation of elegant ceramics in Japan will spread like wildfire, and the world will enter an era of tea ceremony popularity. this is a phenomenon that will occur as Japan’s national power continues to grow, and it is a trend that will spread overseas as an export of Japanese culture. In the past, Spain and Portugal only developed when this export of culture did not cease. Therefore potters must not neglect to study the excellent techniques of their predecessors, and at the same time, they must always be thinking about researching the world’s export products that they can promote.
At the same time, they must also make the excellent remains of the Takeo-style old kilns known to the Japanese people, who are their predecessors, and they must make them as widely known as possible, and they must appreciate them well.

Mining ban on digging up
Since the president of the main mountain, Dai Mai, started digging up the area on a large scale, wooden markers have been erected at the sites of the old kilns in Takeuchi, and the collection of shards has been banned. It is a source of regret for us that other mountains have also followed suit. If there are people who come to this remote place and want to collect the shards there, even if it is not for research or for the sake of collecting, they should be encouraged to dig up and take them away, and this will help to spread the fame of the Takeuchi pottery all over the country.

If they are left buried is not only a waste of effort, but also does not serve as a security for loans, like gold or coal mines.

One action is a win-win situation.
Therefore, even if it is only a little, it will be a great help in terms of development, and at the same time, it will be a great way to promote the excellence of the area. Among the hundreds of old kiln sites in Hizen, there are certainly not a few that contain old pottery fragments that are not inferior to those in Takeuchi. all of these could be collected, it would be possible to create several tens of hectares of arable land.

The taste of collecting on a hike
Even if you find a large quantity of these shards and try to sell them, they won’t sell immediately. is different from matsutake mushrooms or other items displayed in the shop window of a greengrocer. Just as there is a certain appeal in hunting for matsutake mushrooms in the mountains, there is also a certain appeal in digging up shards while hiking in fine weather, and each shard has its own unique glaze, pattern or shape.
Therefore we were to set up a display area (even in a primary school) for each of the old kiln sites in Hizen, and search for shards, we could use them as materials for researchers. And while they are still intact, it would be good to erect a commemorative signpost at the old kiln site, and to open the ruins to collectors. If