Tanaka family name. According to conventional tradition, he was named after the founder of Raku ware, Abeya, but the “Raku Family Soukei Document” has revealed that he was a different person from Abeya. The inscription on the censer reads, “Toshiro 60 Tanaka Tenkaichi Sokei (Hanasho) Bunroku 4-nen September Yoshichi,” indicating that Sokei was 60 years old in 1595 under the surname Tanaka, and that he received the title of Tenkaichi from Hideyoshi. It is a Raku seal, but this is not the same as the known Raku Daiyo seal. It is probably a seal of receipt from Hideyoshi.
According to the aforementioned document, Sokei also had two sons, his elder brother Shozaemon Soji and younger brother Kichizaemon Tsunekei, and Shozaemon’s daughter was Chojiro’s wife. According to the Raku Kiln genealogy, Tsunekei was the second generation.
