Classification of the Japanese People
In order to describe the history of Japanese pottery, it is necessary to trace the origins of the prehistoric peoples of Japan. The fact that Japan was originally part of the Asian continent is evidenced by the discovery of mammoth remains and the discovery of the shell of the giant clam on the island of Hirado. It seems that in the distant past, due to a geological upheaval, the islands were separated and formed an island nation, and islands such as Oki, Sado, Iki and Tsushima remained in the middle and appeared as small fragments on the horizon. Or perhaps, after a submarine volcano rose to the surface, part of it sank back down.
Korobokkuru people’s Jomon pottery
It is said that in the Neolithic period, a small race of people called Korobokkuru lived on the island, and it is possible that they were the same race as the Eskimos. The pottery that this race made is called Korobokkuru Jomon pottery (also called Jomon pottery). At that time, of course, they did not use rope or straw to make imprinted patterns, but wrapped the vessels in natural plants such as kudzu or twisted vines when they were still wet.
The arrival of the Ainu people
Next, the Ainu people, who are said to have arrived in Japan from the Mamiya Strait 4,500 years ago, are distributed as far as the Chugoku region of Honshu. They lived on the coast and in the mountains, and apart from hunting and fishing, they did not know how to farm, and they also made and used earthenware. However, they were later defeated by the people who came after them, and retreated to places such as Oshu, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands.
Shell Mound Pottery
The ancestors of the Ainu people left behind the earthenware they made in various places. This can be found as far as Hokkaido and Iwakuni in Honshu, but it has also been discovered in places such as Sado, Izu, Oshima and Hatsushima. The body of this earthenware is brown with a spiral pattern, and is called “shell mound earthenware”. It is said that it was first fired at a temperature of between 650 and 750 degrees. There is also a theory that the Kuzu, Emishi, and other tribes all belong to the Ainu.
Tungusic people
Next, the Tungusic people, who lived in northeast Siberia, migrated to Japan. This race was a large tribe known as the Tungusic or Xiongnu in ancient Chinese history, and they occupied Manchuria from Siberia, constantly threatening China at the time and causing the construction of the Great Wall of China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. This is thought to be the indigenous race.
Ouhu Tribe
It is said that there were three periods of migration for this tribe, the first being those who crossed the Mamiya Strait with the Ainu and settled in Dewa and Echigo. The second was those who came from the Manchurian region and entered Korea, and some of them crossed the Sea of Japan and settled in the Izumo region, which is said to be the center of the Izumo tribe.
The Amatsukuni
The third group was a people who remained in the continental region and the Korean Peninsula, crossed the Tsushima Straits and landed in Kyushu, and then expanded their power with the Hyuga region as their center. The first and second groups of immigrants are the Kunitsukami (gods of the land) mentioned in ancient history, and the last group to arrive were the Amatsukuni (heavenly gods).
These three tribes moved from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural lifestyle, and then to a metal-using lifestyle. They also fought the Ainu and defeated them, driving this tribe into the mountains and remote areas. Of the three groups of immigrants who came to Japan during this period, the Amatsukuni group had the greatest intellectual and military power, and they conquered the other groups as they moved east from Kyushu, establishing their capital in China and laying the foundations for the founding of Japan. The Yayoi-style earthenware that was made around the Yamato Kashihara area is known as Takamagahara earthenware.
The Miao
The next to arrive in Japan were the Miao, an indigenous people of China. They had been driven out of the Indian subcontinent by the rise of the Han Chinese, and this tribe knew how to make earthenware, as well as agriculture, and also understood the use of bronze. And as if some of this tribe had crossed to the northern part of Kyushu by sea and established a society, they are said to have brought rice cultivation to our country.
Hayato Tribe
Next, there were the Indonesian tribes who came over from the southern seas on the ocean currents, and they settled in the south of Kyushu and fought long and hard with the Indochinese tribes. The ancestors of the Satsuma Hayato were the Satsuma Hayato. Next, there were the Negrito tribes, who were of black descent and had travelled from India, and some of them drifted to Japan. (Owners of short bodies with curly hair and flat noses) Although most of these people were initially enslaved and gradually decreased to the point of extinction, there are still many people with these features today.
The Han People
Next, the Han people (the founders of the Chinese Empire) extended their power into northern Korea around 1000 years before the reign of Emperor Jinmu, and some of the people from the areas of Rakurō, Rintun, Gen’en, and Shinpan moved to Japan. Considering the relationships between the various races mentioned above, it can be inferred that pottery making in Japan at the time was being experimented with in various styles. In short, Japanese pottery, like the earthenware vessels that were first developed as food containers and then as ritual vessels (i.e. sake jugs), were all unglazed, and apart from haniwa and pottery coffins, there were also cups, plates, and pots, as well as Korean-style earthenware vessels such as jars. The earthenware called Uzu-doki is made by imprinting a round wooden mouthpiece on Sue ware. The earthenware excavated from the provincial capital of Kawachi in later years was examined and found to be a relic from 3,000 years ago.
Jindai = Amamochizukushi
In our Jindai history, Amamochizukushi-no-mikoto tasted the white substance that had attached itself to the sand on the seashore and discovered its flavor. He then dug a hole in the sand with water and made a pot, put seawater in it and boiled it to roast the sand, and discovered that the water solidified to become salt. This is definitely recorded in the Creation Record.
Pottery making at the upper reaches of the Hino River
It is a well-known story that when Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the seventh generation of the heavenly deities, rescued Kushinada-hime, he served her a cup of poisoned sake to the eight-headed serpent.
It is said that the eight jars used at that time were ordered to be burned in the upper reaches of the Hino River (in Ohara County) in Izumo Province by the order of the brothers Asunashi and Tsunashiki. It is thought that when the deity once visited the Korean Peninsula, he had already mastered the art of pottery-making.
After that, the heavenly grandson Ninigi no Mikoto (the son of Susano-o-no-Mikoto and adopted son of Amaterasu-Oomikami) was sent to the middle country of the reed plain, and from then on, the western end of our country (Tsukushi) received the influence of nearby China and Korea, and there were probably people in that region who learned the art of pottery making. It is said that the pottery techniques of the time originated from three areas: Tsukushi, Izumo and Yamato.
Yayoi-style earthenware
The oldest earthenware (Hashi-ki) used by our people was a light brown color, and the shape was often round with a flat base and no stand, and generally considered to be plain. Some of them have a slight brush mark, and they seem to have been fired at a temperature of around 600 to 700 degrees, and are what is now called Yayoi-style pottery or Takamagahara pottery.
The founder of pottery, Oto-gami
In the time of Omi-no-mikoto, the grandson of Susano-no-mikoto, the sixth generation of the imperial family, there was a man called Oto-gami (Oto-tsuchi-mimi-no-mikoto) who made pottery in a place called Kaya-no-kuni, as written in the Kojiki. This Ootouzu was the father-in-law of Oomikami, and was a powerful local clan leader, so it is fair to say that he was the originator of the pottery tradition in our country. (Chijun is the name of the area around Naniwa no Ura, and the pottery villages of Fuka-mura, Den-no-mura, Tsuji-no-mura, Omura, Kitamura, Fuku-da-mura, Takamura, and Iwamuro-mura in Izumi Province are collectively known as the “Otori District”.)
The arrival of Tenpichiyo
At this time, Tenpichiyo of the Korean peninsula was naturalized in our country, and for a while he was in Kagamiya in Omi Gona-mura, but there is a folk tale that there were potters who came from that time and made pottery in this area. (Amahikari lived in Tajima afterwards, and his descendants, including Tajima Shosuke, lived in this area for generations. The Izu-shi Shrine in this area enshrines Amahikari. Also, although Amahikari is said to be a prince of Silla, the founding of Silla was in the 37th year of Emperor Sujin’s reign, the first year of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, which was a long time after that).
The Period of the Founding of Yamato
Three years before the accession of Emperor Jinmu, when the bandit Yaso no Omi (the leader of a group of barbarians) was defeated, the order was given to Sukenotsuhiko and his younger brother, and others to search for clay from the mountain of Kagu in the province of Yamato (in the village of Kagu, in the district of Ishiro, in the province of Yamato). and had them make 80 shallow jars, 80 small jars that could be dug out with the fingers, and 80 large jars (also called “kan” or “sake-dono”, which are used to brew sake for the gods in the sake brewery or as a drinking vessel for the gods at the festival).
Shikibu earthenware
This is the beginning of the Iwabikami or Iwabikabe earthenware (or sake vessel) of the Imibe (Imi) clan, and the clay is a grayish-brown. The first pottery was probably made from clay, but later it became a little more solid than Yayoi-style pottery, like Sue ware. The firing temperature ranged from 900 to 1000 degrees centigrade, and this method was used from the Nara period to the Heian period.
The Naturalization of Xu Fu
In the 72nd year of the Emperor Kouryuu, the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Shi Huangdi, ordered the Taoist Xu Fu to seek the elixir of life in the eastern country of Penglai. They were divided into 58 men and 48 women, and arrived at Kumano Port in Kii Province with several tens of thousands of bushels of rice, gold and silk, but among the things they brought were several types of pottery, and there was also a potter who received the direct transmission of the pottery method from China and passed it on. The descendants of this potter are said to be the ancestors of those whose surname is “Tō”.
On the 5th day of the 10th month of the 28th year of the reign of Emperor Suinin, the imperial prince Yamatotakeru died. On the 2nd day of the 12th month, when his body was being buried, all of his attendants were buried alive in the ground, and the scene was so gruesome that the emperor issued an imperial edict forbidding such acts of self-sacrifice in the future.
Haniwa of Nomi no Sukune
Then, on the 6th day of the 7th month of the 32nd year, the Empress Nihayasu passed away, and the Emperor accepted the proposal of Nomi no Sukune of Izumo and, in place of ritual suicide, ordered that clay clay to make human idols, and then built a tomb around them, half-burying them in the ground and arranging them in a circle. This is how the haniwa came to be called haniwa or standing figures.
Establishing the Taji Occupation
The Emperor established the Taji occupation and designated pottery-making areas in various countries, and made the Taji chief of the Taji. He brought one hundred earthenware (pottery) craftsmen from Izumo to Yamato to make haniwa. From this point on, the pottery-making areas were fixed as the 13 provinces of Izumo, Bizen, Yamato, Kawachi, Izumi, Ise, Omi, Tajima, Awa, Sanuki, Awaji, Harima and Chikuzen, but then the number was increased to 25 by adding the 12 provinces of Yamashiro, Settsu , Owari, Mikawa, Mino, Ueno, Shimotsuke, Tanba, Inaba, Suo, Nagato, and Chikugo, making a total of 25 provinces with the Habushi office established in each. This is the origin of the people who use the Habushi surname.
Erecting statues of people and horses in front of the gods Erecting a statue of a man and horse
In the reign of Emperor Keiko, there was a demon in the mountains of Hizen Province (later Saga County) that would kill people who passed by, and the local people were greatly troubled by this. The sisters Ooyama and Sayamada, who were sisters, came up with a plan: they dug up the clay from Shimoda Village (now Matsubai Village) and made a large statue of a man and horse, which they then burned and enshrined in front of the shrine. The Great Arahata did as he said, and the gods were appeased. This is said to be the earliest example of a human and horse statue being erected in front of a shrine in Japan.
The Three Kingdoms The period of the expedition to Korea = the beginning of Karatsu ware
In the ninth year of Emperor Chuai, Empress Jingu led an expedition to the Three Korean Kingdoms (at the time, Korea was divided into the kingdoms of Mahan, Jahan and Benhan), and in December of that year, she returned in triumph to the port of Kamimatsuura in Hizen (later Karatsu). , and the potters who came from Korea and settled here to make pottery are said to be the most accurate founders of the Korean-style pottery-making method that was introduced to Japan.
Since this war Since the war, there has been frequent traffic between Japan and Korea, and potters from that region have come to Japan to learn our pottery techniques. The introduction of Northern Song pottery techniques into Korea belongs to a later period, but they were able to learn Chinese pottery techniques due to geographical proximity. China is a country with a history of nearly 5,000 years, and is known as the source of both Eastern and Western culture. In particular, China’s pottery techniques have advanced to such an extent that the country’s name has become a byword for pottery.
Fukayu-shi
On the 9th day of the 9th month of the 4th year of the Emperor Yunkyo, a decree was issued to correct the false names of each person according to the search for hot water (oath of hot water). was a method of testing one’s sincerity by dipping one’s hand into the hot water inside the pot as a pledge that one would never deceive, and from this time on it became widely used by the general populace, and demand for the hot water pot increased.
The Emperor invited the nobility of Baekje
to the court of Emperor Yuryaku. The emperor issued a decree that pottery making should be promoted. The seventh year of the emperor’s reign, a man from the Western Han Dynasty named Tevito (meaning “artisan”) reported that there were many people in the Korean Peninsula who were skilled in this craft. The emperor therefore sent the Minister of the Upper Road of Kibi as an envoy, and brought back a nobleman from the pottery department of Baekje, and had him fire pottery in Momohara (Katano-gun, Osaka Prefecture).
Imibe Yaki
In the same era, pottery known as Imibe-yaki was first produced in Sue-mura (in Okubo-gun, Fukuoka Prefecture). This area was the home of the Hashi clan, who were invited by the legendary Minomino Sukune to make haniwa (unglazed earthenware burial figures).
The Hashi Hashi
On the 2nd day of the 3rd month of the 17th year of the same era, the emperor issued an edict to the Hashi clan, etc., to promote the making of pure vessels. At this time the ancestors of the Tsuwano clan came from Settsu Province’s Kisaki Village, Yamashiro Province’s Uchimura (Uji), Fumimura (Fushimi), Ise Province’s Fujikata Village, and other places in Tanba, Tajima, and Inaba, and they made the sacred vessels for the offerings, and advanced the private sector. This is the beginning of the earthenware department of the offering. (An offering is the act of offering new food to both gods and people, and eating it yourself as well.)
Tray for the Kyokusui Banquet
Emperor Kenzo On the third day of the third month of the first year of Emperor Kenzo’s reign, it is said that the first Kyokusui no Utage (a gathering where people make poems by floating paper boats down a stream, and the light of the floating paper boats can be seen in the water) was held, and that melons were served on plates as a snack with the sake at the banquet, which proves that plates were already being used as serving dishes at this time.
Soga Soga Clan’s Era The arrival of Buddhism
On the 13th day of the 10th month of the 13th year of the reign of Emperor Kinmei, along with the gift of Buddhist sutras from King Seong of Baekje, there arose a need for pottery to be used in the ceremony and for roof tiles to be used in construction.
The roof tile craftsman were offered
In the first year of Emperor Sujin, King Muyeol of Baekje offered temple builders Taromita Munhak, Jangdeok Baekmijun, and tile makers Manabun Yuhun, Neunghun, Saemaeya, and Baekga to build a Buddhist temple. From this , the first roof tiles were made in Japan. It is thought that the patterns of Greek art entered China via India and became the art of the Six Dynasties, and then were imported to Japan via Korea.
The first Japanese envoy to Tang Embassy to China begins
On the third day of the seventh month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Empress Suiko, the great priest Ono no Imoko was sent to Sui, and from that time on, a succession of envoys to the Tang court would travel to China, and this would become a catalyst for the development of pottery making.
The Reforms of the time: Establishment of the Hakutoushi
During the Taika Reforms of Emperor Koutoku, the system of the four ministries and thirteen bureaus was established in the Grand Council of State, and the Hakutoushi was established within this system, abolishing the official position of the Tsuchi no Tsukasa and making the pottery workers supervised by the Tsuchi no Tsukasa and the earthwork supervisor was put in charge of construction, but the abolition of the hereditary occupation of the earthwork supervisor in this reform is a matter that should be noted in the history of pottery.
Koryo ware and Nunome roof tiles
During the reign of Emperor Saimei, a Korean potter came to the area of Kamimatsuura in Hizen Province and created the Korean ware. From this time on, this area became known as a pottery village. what is called the beginning of Karatsu ware during the reign of Emperor Chuai was unglazed pottery, but from this time onwards glazed pottery began to be produced in Japan. Also, around this time, tile-making began in Hizen Province, and it is said that this was the first time that unglazed pottery was made in Japan.
The pottery-maker established the system of appointing
pottery makers to the positions of chief, assistant chief, chief historian, six messengers and eleven direct workers. (Hakodo was a rare name used to distinguish pottery makers from mud workers, or tile makers)
Nara Period = Gyoki fired roof tiles
Genmei In the fourth year of the Wado era of the Emperor Genki, the priest Gyoki had roof tiles fired in Seta, Omi Province, for use in the construction of halls and temples. (The Izumi Sansai Zue states that, in the morning of the Wado era of the Emperor Kenzo, Gyoki taught the art of pottery firing in the village of Otsu in the Omi Province of Izumi.
Toyoma studying abroad
In the first month of the first year of the Jinki era (724), the emperor Shomu sent the potter Toyoma to the Korean peninsula to study the pottery-making techniques of the Hashi people. It is said that it is said that this was the first time that a member of the Hashi family studied abroad. Also, on November 8th of the same year, the Grand Council of State requested that the use of tiles to roof the imperial palace and the use of red paint to paint the palace be permitted.
Making Tang-style making three-color glazed pottery
In the sixth year of the Tempyo era, in the imperial court in Nara, they searched for clay in Kawachi Province’s Katano and used it as a raw material to make three-color glazed pottery (pottery with a lead glaze, similar to Koji ware).
Kibi The opening of a kiln in Kibi
On the 10th day of the 3rd month of the 7th year of Tempyo, the Japanese ambassador to T’ang China, Tajihi no Hironari, and the students who had gone to study there, Kibi no Makibi and Kagen no Haku, returned to Japan. It is said that the potter Nai, who had accompanied them from T’ang China, opened a kiln in Kibi no Kuni (present-day Okayama Prefecture) and produced glazed pottery, which was then passed on to others.
Gyoki Yaki
There is a folk tale that the great priest Gyoki had the local people in the village of Kiyokamidera, Maruyama (in Atago County), Yamashiro Province, make earthenware. (Gyoki, a great priest of the Hosso sect, was born in the village of Otori, Izumi Province, and died on February 2nd, 729, at the age of 82.
Ruri tile
It is said that on April 14th of the first year of the Jingo-keiun era of Emperor Shoutoku, the roof of the eastern palace was tiled with blue-glazed tiles. (There is a theory that the blue glaze of this period was not blue glaze, but rather meant “glass”, and there are old objects in the palace now, but are they really relics from that time, or were they made in a later period when they were remodeled? There is a theory that the word “ruri” in this context does not refer to blue glaze, but rather to glass, and it is not known whether the old roof tiles still in existence at the Gyokuden are indeed relics from this period, or whether they were replaced when the building was renovated in a later era.
Pottery for daily use
On the 4th day of the 8th month of the first year of the Joutoku era, the Emperor died in the Western Palace. The court ordered one person each from the Daizen Office, the Oi-ryo Office, the Sake-tsukasa Office, and the Touko-tsukasa Office to supervise the laborers , and it is recorded that the pottery made at the time was used to make the laborers’ eating utensils and everyday miscellaneous containers.
Heian Period = Buddhist altar fittings and celadon
Emperor Kammu On October 22nd of the 13th year of the Enryaku era, Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Nagaoka in Otokuni County, Yamashiro Province, to Heian (Kyoto) in the same province, and ordered that all the ceramics used for Buddhist altar fittings be made from Chinese celadon. From this time on, it is said that the number of such items imported from that country greatly increased.
Roofed with blue tiles The Heian Palace was built with thin roof tiles, and in the 15th year of the same era, when the Daigoku-den (the central building of the Imperial Palace, the main hall of the Chodoin, or Court of State, the place where the enthronement ceremony and other state ceremonies were held) was built, the roof was covered with roof tiles made in Takagamine, in the northern part of Kyoto. it was probably not yet permissible to use roof tiles on private houses at the time.
Hakutō was merged with the
Hakutō-shi (ceramics office) on the 10th day of the 12th month of the 24th year of the Enryaku era (or the 3rd year of the Daidō era) of the same era, and the office was abolished, and the Hakutō-shi was merged with the Daizen-shoku (office in charge of the imperial kitchen), and from then on, the pottery was under the jurisdiction of this office, and the office of the earthwork (tile-maker) was also merged with the woodwork office.
Sealing of sake jars seal
In the first year of the Daidō era of the Emperor Heizei, a decree was issued to seal the sake jars, but this did not stop the development of the pottery industry.
Restoration the founder of Japanese pottery
In the sixth month of the sixth year of the Emperor Saga’s reign, three men who had previously entered China to study the art of porcelain returned to Japan, and among them was a man named Otomo, who had come from the Yamada district of Owari Province (now the Kasugai area of Aichi Prefecture). , who was from the Yamada district of Owari Province (now the Kasugai area), brought clay from that area and came to his hometown of Shuei, where he produced the first hard-paste porcelain (celadon) in Japan. He was the founder of the Owari pottery industry, and is also considered to be the man who revived pottery in Japan.
Heian Fujiwara Period = Imports of celadon are restricted
Koko On the 20th day of the 10th month of the Ninwa era of the Emperor Koko, I was forbidden to buy Chinese goods in Dazaifu. Since the arrival of Confucianism and Buddhism, Chinese celadon porcelain had become very popular in Japan as ritual objects, and people from the highest court officials to the lowest commoners would buy vases and incense burners to use when entertaining guests. it is clear that many pieces of blue porcelain were imported, even if it is not certain that the many fragments found on the coast of Hakata, where damaged pieces were thrown overboard from the Chinese ships, are all remnants of the ships of the Yuan army that were destroyed during the Mongol Invasion.
Pottery in the form of a ring
In the fifth year of the Engi era (901), a system was introduced whereby pottery was presented to the imperial court in the form of a ring, and twelve provinces were designated as tribute-paying provinces: Yamato, Kawachi, Settsu, Izumi, Mino, Omi, Mikawa, Awaji , Harima, Chikuzen, Sanuki, Bizen, etc., were designated as tribute-paying provinces, and a certain amount of porcelain was to be loaned to the Ministry of Popular Affairs from Owari and Nagato. (The term “ring” refers to the method of using the porcelain produced to pay for government expenses, and the value of the porcelain was paid for using the regular taxes of the country.
The hierarchy of pottery for court ceremonies
The porcelain of the The porcelain of the Kounin style, or blue porcelain, was the highest-ranking of the tribute goods of the time, with ordinary pottery ranking in the middle and earthenware ranking lowest. Therefore, at the time, earthenware was equivalent to black lacquerware for court ceremonies, pottery was equivalent to red lacquerware, and porcelain was used in place of silverware.
Tsuchiya Saemon
In the same Engi era, there was a man named Hashi Saemon who made pottery in the village of Tokoname (in Chita County) in Owari Province. On November 21st of the second year of the Tengyou era, Taira no Masakado rose in rebellion, and Fujiwara no Sumitomo rebelled in Iyo. As a result, the transport routes were cut off, and it is said that from this time on, the supply of pottery to the Imperial Court came to a complete halt.
Heian Imperial Court during the Heian period = A monkey-headed inkstone is presented
In the second year of the Chouji era of the Emperor Horikawa, there was a potter from Setomura (in Yamada-gun, later Kasugai-gun) in Owari Province who presented twenty monkey-headed inkstones (unglazed pottery) to the Imperial Court.
In the Genkyu era of the Emperor Go-Toba During the Genryaku era of the Emperor Go-Toba, there was a potter in Fukakusa Village (in Kii County) in Yamashiro Province who made unglazed pottery, which was called yakishime in common usage.
During the Kamakura From the Genji period (around the time of the Hogen Disturbance), the Genji and Heike clans fought over control of the military, and the effects of the resulting civil unrest inevitably led to the decline of the pottery industry.
