Types of Japanese Ethnic Groups
In order to describe the history of Japanese ceramics, it is necessary to trace the origins of the prehistoric peoples conceptually. The fact that our island nation of Japan was originally part of the Asian continent is evidenced by the remains of animals such as the mammoth and the discovery of the Gamanose shells on the island of Hiratono. The remains of animals such as mammoths and the discovery of the Gamanose shells on the island of Hirato-no-shima are evidence that this is part of the continent. Perhaps a submarine volcano once landed, and then a portion of it sank.
Jomon Pottery of the Korobokkur People
The oldest Neolithic islanders, called Korobokkur, are said to have lived on the island, possibly of the same species as the Eskimos. The pottery was not made with rope or straw, but with natural plants such as kudzu and twining vines, which were wrapped around the vessel when it was dried.
The arrival of the Ainu people
The Ainu people, who are known to have crossed the Mamiya Strait and arrived in Japan four or five thousand years ago, are distributed throughout Honshu and extend to the central part of Japan. They lived on the coast and in the mountains, and did not know how to farm except for hunting and fishing. However, they were later defeated by the migrating race and retreated to Oshu, Hokkaido, or the Kuril Islands.
The ancestors of the Ainu people left behind earthenware from their early days in various places. They can be found as far away as Iwakuni in central Japan, as well as in Sado, Izu, Oshima, and Hatsujima. The color of this pottery is brown with whorl patterns and is called Kaizuka earthenware, and it was fired to between 650 and 750 degrees Celsius. It is also believed that the Kunisu and Yezo Hakumi tribes were all Ainu.
Tungusic people
Next came the Tungusic peoples of North, East, West and Central Asia. They occupied Manchuria from Western Bia and constantly threatened China, building the Great Wall of Manli during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. This is what we call the indigenous people.
The Ou
The first were those who crossed the Mamiya Straits with the Ainu and made their home in Dewa and Echigo. -The second is said to be the Izumo people, who came to Korea from Manchuria, and some of them crossed the Sea of Japan to settle in the country of Izumo.
Amazons
The third group was a hominid from the continent and the Korean peninsula who crossed the Tsushima Strait and landed in Kyushu, expanding their influence in the Hyuga region. The first and second tribes were called Kunitsugami in ancient history, and the last to come to Japan were the Amatsu, or Amateru.
These three tribes moved from hunting and fishing to agriculture, and then to the use of metal. They also fought with the Ainu, defeated them, and drove them into the mountains and into the interior. Among the three periods of the Three Kingdoms, the Amazons, with their greatest wisdom and military power, moved eastward from Kyushu, conquered the other tribes, and established their capital in Chugoku, laying the foundation for the founding of Japan. The Yayoi style earthenware made mainly in Kashihara, Yamato, is called “Takamenpara earthenware.
Miao Tribe
The next people to come to Japan were the Miao, the indigenous people of China. They were driven out of India and China because of the rise of the Han Chinese, who knew agriculture as well as pottery making and the use of bronze. Some of these tribes are said to have traveled by sea to northern Kyushu to establish a society and brought the cultivation of agriculture to our country.
Hayato Tribe
They are the ancestors of the Satsuma Hayato, who settled in the southern part of Kyushu and had a long struggle with the Indo Shina people. -The Negrito – Next came the Negrito, a tribe of Negro descent, who were pursued from India to the South Seas, and some of them drifted to Japan. （Most of them started out as slaves, and although they are said to have been gradually reduced to extinction, it is not uncommon to see their descendants today.
Han race
The Han Chinese (the founders of the Chinese Empire) were a people who expanded their influence in northern Korea before 1000 B.C. and introduced some of the Lappan, Lingtun, Hyeonwon, and Jimba into our country. The above racial relationships suggest that various styles of pottery production were attempted in Japan at that time. In short, Japanese pottery originated as ritual vessels (i.e., vessels for rituals) in addition to tableware, and was always unglazed, including cups, plates, crucibles, and crucibles, as well as haniwa (clay figurines) and coffins. In addition to these Japanese earthenware, there were also jars and other Korean style earthenware. Earthenware excavated from the Kawachi area in later years was examined as artifacts dating back 3,000 years or earlier.
Jindai = Ama-no-Mikazuchi
In the history of the divine era, it is written in the Kaiyakeiki that Ama-no-Mikazunushi, having tasted the white substance attached to the sand of the seashore, made an earthenware vessel by digging in fresh earth with water, filling it with seawater, and roasting the fresh sand over a fire, and discovered that the water hardened to become salt.
A jar made on the Hia River
It is a well-known story that Susanowo-no-mikoto, the son of Izanagi no Mikoto, the 7th Izanagi, saved Kushinadahime by pouring poisoned sake into the eight-forked serpent.
It is said that the eight jars used at that time were ordered to be burned by Ashina-ji and Tenashina-ji in Kawakami, Izumo-kuni (Ohara-gun). It is said that they had already mastered the art of pottery making when they were on the island of Hanhangdo (Korea).
After that, he sent his grandson, Susanowo-no-mikoto (son of Susanowo-no-mikoto and adopted son of Amaterasu Omikami Shrine) to the Land of Reed Plains, the western part of our country (Tsukushi) must have enjoyed the influence of nearby China and Korea, and therefore there must have been people in the region who learned the art of pottery making. The pottery of the time is said to have originated from the three regions of Tsukushi, Izumo, and Yamato.
Yayoi Earthenware
The earliest earthenware of the Yayoi people was brownish-yellow in color and generally unmarked, rounded in shape and without a base. Some of them have a slight brush pattern and were fired to a temperature of 600 to 700 degrees Celsius, and are now called Yayoi style earthenware or Takatenpara earthenware.
Great Pottery Patriarch
When Susanowo-no-mikoto was the son of Susanowo-no-mikoto’s sixth grandson, Ama-no-Togori-no-mikoto, there was a man named Gigi (陶秩) who made pottery in a place called Chiyaguni, according to the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters). He was a powerful local tribesman in Alexandria, and should be called the “Gio of Touzumiki-no-Mikoto. （The villages of Fukasaka, Denen, Tsuji, Omura, Kita, Fukuda, Takamura, and Iwamuro in Izumiguni are said to have been called “Otori-gun,” the home of pottery.)
The arrival of the Cheonil spear
There is an inscription that says that a potter followed him and made pottery in this place. （There is an inscription that reads, “Amanichiryu lived in Tajima, and his son Tajima Morosuke and his descendants have lived in this area for generations. (Amani-no-Isuyari is also said to be a prince of Silla, but this is still very late, as Silla was founded in the 37th year of Emperor Sojin’s reign and the first year of Emperor Seon of the Han Dynasty’s 5th year of the reign of Emperor Wuho.)
Yamato Founding Era
In the third year before Emperor Jinmu’s accession to the throne, when he defeated the Yamato rebels, he ordered Suine Tsuhoku and his followers to search the clay of Kaguyama (Kakushita, Kakuyama-mura, Isogi-gun, Yamato) to make eighty earthenware vessels, eighty polychrome vessels, and eighty earthenware jars for brewing sake in the sake halls or for the sake of the god. The pottery was made in the Shukubu area.
Shukubu Pottery
This is the origin of the vessel (i.e., the abomination), which is a vessel made of clay that is grayish-brown in color. The clay is said to have been grayish brownish-brown, and the initial clay was clay, but later it became a slightly harder suet clay than the Yayoi style. The firing temperature ranged from 900 to 1,000 degrees Celsius, and this pottery was used from the Heian period (794-1192) to the Heian period (794-1192).
Naturalization of Xu Fu
In the 72nd year of the reign of Emperor Ko Ling, Qin Shi Huangdi ordered Xu Fu, a Taoist priest, to go to Horai in the east to seek the elixir of immortality. Among the items they brought were several kinds of pottery, and there was a potter who taught them a method of making pottery directly from China. The descendants of this potter are said to be the ancestors of those whose family name is pottery.
On the 5th day of the 10th month in the 28th year of the Emperor Taruhito, his younger brother Waguhikunin died, and when he was buried on the 2nd day of the 12th month, all of his followers were buried alive on the land, and the situation was so terrible that the emperor ordered them not to die in the line of duty.
Haniwa Terracotta Tomb Figures of Nomi-Sukune
In lieu of his death, a human idol was made from haniwa clay and burned, then buried in the ground halfway around the mausoleum, and arranged in a circle.
Establishment of the position of earthworker
The Emperor appointed the position of potter and designated pottery-making sites throughout the land, and appointed a priest to be the chief potter. He took one hundred potters from Izumo to Yamato to make haniwa (clay figurines). From this time on, he designated thirteen provinces as pottery-making regions: Izumo, Bizen, Yamato, Kawachi, Izumi, Ise, Omi, Tajima, Awa, Sanuki, Awaji, Harima, and Chikuzen, and added Yamashiro, Settsu, Owari, Mikawa, Mino, Ueno, Shimono, Tanba, Inaba, Suo, Nagato, and Chikugo, thus establishing the position of doji in 25 provinces. This is the origin of the Doji family name.
A statue of a man and horse was erected in front of the shrine.
In the mountains of Hizen Province (later Sakae County), during the reign of Emperor Keiko, there was an evil god who killed people who came to the area. If you burn it and enshrine it in front of the shrine, it will surely alleviate the will of the gods. Ooarada did as he said, and as a result, the gods were appeased. This is said to be the earliest time in Japan that a statue of a man and horse was erected in front of a shrine.
The period of the Three Hans Invasion = the beginning of Karatsu ware
In the 9th year of the Emperor Nakai’s reign, Empress Jingu sent a military expedition to the three Koreas (Korea at that time was divided into Mahan, Chinhan, and Benhan), and in December of the same year, she returned to the port of Kamimatsuura in Hizen (later Karatsu). He is referred to as the most accurate originator of Korean-style pottery in Japan.
Since this war, Japan and Korea have been in frequent contact, and the local potters have been transferred to Japan to further develop our own pottery techniques. The influence of Northern Song ceramics in Korea was a later phenomenon, but due to the geographical location of the country, they were able to transmit the Chinese pottery method to their own country. In particular, in the field of ceramics, the country’s name has progressed to the point where it has become synonymous with pottery.
Jinyu Porcelain
On September 9, in the 4th year of Emperor Yunkyo’s reign, an imperial decree was issued to correct the fraudulent beliefs of people’s family names through the use of “shoyu. This was a superstitious belief of the time, and people would bathe and pray to the gods and immerse their hands in boiling water as proof that they would not be defrauded.
Inviting the High Priestesses of the 100s
In the 7th year of the Emperor’s reign, he received a message from the Saihan Taikishi, a native of Kibi, that there were many people in Korea who were skilled in the art of pottery making. Therefore, the Emperor sent his deputy, Kibi no Kamidoushin Imojin, to bring back a noble potter from Baekje, and had him make pottery in Momohara, Kawachi (Iichi-mura, Katano County).
Imobe Pottery
In the reign of the same dynasty, a pottery called Imobeyaki was produced in Sue Village, Bizen Province (Kamagahara, Okubo County). Imobe Pottery was founded in Sue Village, Bizen Province (Kamagahara, Okuho County?) in the reign of the same dynasty. This area was originally an earthenware township where Nomi-no-Sukune invited clay figures from Izumo to make haniwa (clay figurines).
Sacrificial Doji Department
On the second day of the third month of the seventeenth year of the same dynasty, he commanded Doji Ren and his followers to make a clean vessel. In this way, the ancestors of the Dojiren, Ago bamboo shoots, made purification vessels for sacrificial purposes using potters from Settsu, Tajima, Inoha, and Hebata, as well as from Settsu, Uji, and Fushimi villages in Yamasegi Province (Utsu) and from Settsu and nearby villages in Uchimura (Uji), and Fujikata in Ise Province (Fushimi). This was the beginning of the Sacrificial Potters’ Department. （Sacrifice is the feasting of new things on both gods and people, as well as the eating of new things oneself.)
Kyokusui banquet tableware
On the third day of the third month of the first year of the Emperor Henshu’s reign, a kyokusui banquet was held for the first time.
Introduction of Buddhism during the Soga Zenyoko Period
On October 13, 13th of the 13th year of the reign of Emperor Kinmei, King Seimei of Baekje presented a Buddhist scripture, and with it came the need for pottery for use in ceremonies and roof tiles for construction.
Tile workers were offered to the temple.
In the first year of the reign of Emperor Sungshun, King Weideok of Baekje donated temple builders Taromidaebun Kaekoja, rasp doctors Jangdeok Baejun, tile doctors Manamun Yanggibun, Linggibun and Mukaeya, and tile workers Hakka and others for the construction of the pagoda of the Buddhist temple. The following is a list of the names of the people to whom he dedicated his art. This was the first time that roof tiles were burned for roofing in Japan. It is likely that the patterns of the Rho arts entered China via India and became the art of the Six Dynasties, and were imported to Japan via Joseon.
The beginning of the Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty
On July 3, 15, the 15th year of Emperor Suiko, Ono Imoko was dispatched to the Sui Dynasty, and a delegation of Japanese envoys to Tang China traveled to the Sui Dynasty.
Establishment of Hakotoshi during the Period of the Reform of the Law and Politics
During the Taika Reform of the Emperor Kotoku, a system of 13 government posts was established in the four dormitories of the Imperial Court, including the position of hakotoshi (potter), which was abolished in favor of the position of doji (potter), and the potter supervised by the doji ren was placed under the jurisdiction of the doji, and the doji was placed in charge of the production of pottery. This is a noteworthy event in the history of ceramics.
Koryo Pottery and Nunome Tiles
In the reign of Emperor Jimei, Korean potters came to Kamimatsuura in Hizen Province and created Koryo ware. From this time on, this area was given the name of “Pottery Village”. The first Karatsu ware produced during the reign of Emperor Nakai was still unglazed, but it is said that glazed ware was produced in Japan for the first time at this time. Tile ware was also started in Hizen Province around this time, and it is said that this was the first of its kind.
Establishment of Potter’s House
In the 1st year of the Emperor Monmu’s reign, the following positions were created for the Hakotoshi: one Sho, one Tasuku, one Reishi, six Envoys, and eleven Naoto. (Hakodono was a potter, which is a rare distinction from mudware, or tileworker.)
Nara Period = Gyoki had tiles fired.
In the 4th year of Emperor Genmyō’s reign, the monk Gyoki had tiles burned in Seta, Omi Prefecture, to be used in the construction of a hall. (According to the Izumi Sansai Tudokai, Gyoki taught the Dharma to burn pottery in Toh-mura, Otori-gun, Izumi-kuni in the reign of Emperor Tenchi.)
Toyoma’s Rugaku
In the seventh month of the first year of the Emperor Shomu’s reign, Doji was dispatched to Toyoma to study the pottery method of the Korean clay of Toyoma. This was the first time that Doji studied in a foreign country. On November 8 of the same year, the Grand Council of State granted permission to use tiles for thatching palace buildings and tan for painting.
Production of Tang Three-Color Pottery
In the same year, the Nara court prohibited the production of Tang Sansai (lead-glazed earthenware similar to koji-yaki) pottery by searching for clay from Katano in Kawachi Province.
Opening of Kibi Tsu Kiln
On March 10, Tenpyo 7, Tajibi Hiroshige, the ambassador to Tang Dynasty China, Kibi Makabi, and Genbou, the presumptive ruler, returned to Japan.
Gyoki Pottery
There is an inscription that says that the high priest Gyoki also directed local people to make earthenware in Maruyama, Seikanji Village, Yamaboshi Province (Atago County). （Gyoki, a high priest of the Hosso sect, was a man of the secular family name Takashi from Otori-gun, Izumi-kuni, who died on February 2, Tenpyo 1 (the first year of the Tempyo era) at the age of 82.
Thatched with lapis lazuli tiles
On April 14 of the first year of the Jingo-Keiun reign of Emperor Namazu, the roof of To-in Gyokuden was completed using lapis lazuli tiles (lapis lazuli in this era refers to the tiles that were used for the roofing). (There is a theory that the word “lapis lazuli” in this period means “glass” rather than “blue glaze,” and it is unclear whether this ancient object in Tamadono is a relic from that period or whether the roof was replaced when the building was remodeled later.)
Pottery is used for daily utensils
On August 4, in the first year of the Minakame Era, the Emperor Hyakutoku collapsed in his palace in the western part of Japan, and the court ordered one person each from the kitchen, the kitchen, the brewery, and the potter’s kitchen to raise a mausoleum in Takano, Urushigami-gun, Yamato Prefecture, and used pottery made in those days as tableware and daily necessities.
Heian period = Buddhist ritual utensils and celadon ware
On October 22, 13th year of the Enryaku era, Emperor Kanmu moved his capital from Nagaoka, Otokuni-gun, Yamabusa-gun to Heian (Kyoto) in the same country, and requested that all ceramics used for Buddhist rituals be made from celadon from China. From this time onward, the use of these ceramics from China increased in popularity.
Roofing with blue tiles
In the 15th year of the same year, he built the Daigoku-den Hall (the main hall of the Chodoin, or the main hall of the Imperial Household, the center of the Imperial Palace), and thatched the roof with heki kawara tiles baked in Takagamine in the northern part of Kyoto. However, it was not yet permitted to roof private houses with tiles at that time.
The Hakotouji merger
On December 10, 24th year of Enryaku (or Daido 3) of the same dynasty, the Hakotoshi was merged with the Daizen Shogyo, and pottery was thenceforth under the control of this Shogyo, and the Doukou Shogyo (tile makers) were merged with the woodworkers.
Blockade of sake jars
In the first year of the Heijo Emperor’s reign (Daido 1), he decreed the blockade of sake jars, but this was a setback to the development of the pottery industry.
Otomaro, the founder of the pottery industry
In the first month of the 6th year of the Emperor Saga’s reign (the first year of the Emperor Saga’s reign, the 6th year of the Emperor Saga’s reign, the 6th year of the Emperor Saga’s reign, Emperor Saga entered the Tang Dynasty as a zorashi student, and after completing his studies of zaisei, he became a junior zaisei. This is the originator of the Ono pottery industry and one of Japan’s most prominent potters.
The Fujiwara period of the Heian period (794-1185) = Control of importation of celadon porcelain
On October 20th of the first year of the Emperor Kouko’s reign, the Dazaifu forbade me from buying Chinese goods. However, since the arrival of Confucianism and Buddhism, Chinese celadon porcelain has been greatly loved by the people of Japan as a ritual utensil, and everyone from senior officials to the wealthiest commoners purchased vases and incense burners to await guests. It is clear how many celadon ware was imported from that time, even though it is not certain that the numerous lacunae on the coast of Hakata, where the broken pieces were dumped from Chinese ships, were the remains of ships destroyed by the Yuan forces during the time of the Yuan invasion.
Pottery as a Circle
In the 5th year of Emperor Daigo’s reign (Engi 5), a system was instituted under which pottery was to be dedicated to the Imperial Court and designated as a wheel. Twelve countries were designated as tribute countries, including Yamato, Kawachi, Settsu, Izumi, Mino, Omi, Mikawa, Awaji, Harima, Chikuzen, Sanuki and Bizen. (Wan was a method of appropriating the cost of the ceramics produced to the service, and the price was to be determined by the regular taxes of the country).
The Ceremonial Class of Pottery at the Imperial Court
At that time, Kounin-style celadon ware, or celadon, was the highest level of tribute, while ordinary pottery was in the middle, and earthenware was lower. Therefore, earthenware was matched with black lacquerware and ceramics with vermilion lacquerware for court ceremonies at that time, and silverware was used in place of earthenware when it came to ceramics.
Dojizaemon
In the same Engi period, in Tokoname Village, Owari Province (Chita County), there was a man named Doji Saemon, who was somewhat successful at making pottery. He is said to have been defeated by the Taira Shogun on November 21, Tenkei 2, and then in the same month, Fujiwara no Sumitomo rebelled against Iyo and the transportation of ceramics to Iyo was cut off.
Heian period (794-1185) = Offering the Sarutou inkstone
In the second year of Emperor Horikawa’s reign, a potter from setuben village in Owari (later Kasugai county, Yamada county) presented the imperial court with twenty unglazed Sarutou inkstones.
During the first year of Emperor Go-Toba’s reign, there was a potter in Fukakusa Village in Yamashiro Province (Kii County) who made pottery without glaze, which was commonly called yakishime.
During the reign of the Kamakura Genji (1185-1333), the Genpei (1467-1568) invaded the area to fight for military power, and the invasion inevitably led to a decline in the pottery industry. Thus, even though Minamoto no Yoritomo ruled the whole country and established his government in Kamakura on July 12, Kenkyu 3, his military government did not dare to promote the arts and crafts, and therefore, no outstanding ceramic artists emerged.
