A potter in Kyoto. Formerly of Owari Seto. Third son of Kato Koubei. Known as Kato Mikiyama (1863-1863) under the name Mikiyama or Shountei, he abandoned this name in 1872 and adopted the family name Yama Denshichi (1872-1885). In September 1862, he moved to Reizan (Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto) and started his own porcelain manufacturing business. Mikiyama was the first to specialize in this business in Kyoto. In 1870, he succeeded in trying 13 kinds of Western paints under the instruction of Wagner at the Kyoto Prefectural Office. In 1873, he was awarded a silver medal at the Austrian Grand Exposition. In the same year, he received an order for Western tableware for the Imperial Household Ministry’s reception, and finally succeeded in building a round kiln in the Hikone style. His fame spread throughout the country and abroad, and his factory was often visited by dignitaries. However, this honor was due to the presence of influential patrons and excellent craftsmen, such as Masanao Uemura, the governor of Kyoto Prefecture, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the company. Among the craftsmen were Kisaku Wakabayashi and Seiji Inoue on the potter’s wheel, Rinzo Kato on carvings and objects, Tokuhei Takagi on bags, Yozaburo Furukawa and Hatsutaro Meiyama on others, Shozo Kutani on paintings, Kozome Uehara and Toraji Yokota on flowers and birds, Koho Mizuno on figures, Sutekichi Iwatsuki on dyed goshomono, Ito Toyama, Nakanozo, Sakutaro Ishida, Setsudo Yamamoto, and Risuke Yagi on patterned objects. His students included Tamejiro Yamazoe, Sotokichi Tsuji, Yajuro Kato, Sadashichi Fujita, Komakichi Otsuka, and Yonejiro Nakata. Mikizan’s personality was warm, mellow, honest, and taciturn, and he never made a single item of artifact without consideration for its value. His specialty was thin wares, such as Tenmoku tea bowls, which were so thin that they were almost paper-thin and weightless. The products were inscribed with “Mikiyama Seisan” or “Dainippon Mikiyama,” and the “Dainippon” was intended for export to foreign countries.
The Emperor Meiji’s official wares were especially permitted to have “Mikiyama” or “Mikiyama Kinseisaku” written in small letters on the rim of the inner plateau. The inscription was initially written by a certain Horiuchi in Kyoto, but was later added by his student Fujita Sadashichi. The inscription of the first Mikizan was written in a consistent style, but the inscriptions of the second and following generations were written in different styles. Around 1885 or 1896 (Meiji 18 and 19), the company was reorganized as Mikiyama Toki Co. However, due to various internal problems, the company was dissolved in 1889 (22nd year of the same year) and the factory was sold. Mikiyama continued to produce pottery at his home, but died on February 28 of the following year at the age of 70. (“Koto-yaki no Kenkyu” (“Study of Koto Pottery”))
