Kamakura Hojo Period = Kato Kagesada
In the second month of the second year of the Jōō era (1223), there was a potter named Kato Shirozaemon Kagesada from Fukakusa, who accompanied the priest Dōgen (1200-1253), founder of the Eihei-ji sect of Zen Buddhism, on his trip to China. he learned the art of glazing pottery at a pottery kiln in the area (there are various theories, such as the Nanfang Jiujiang kiln, the Zhoushan kiln in the Zhoushan archipelago, or the Xiang kiln in Ningbo). He returned to Japan in the sixth year, in the third month of the Anjo era (1229).
From this point on, he spent 14 years firing pottery in various places in Japan, including the pottery village of Sakai, Shigaraki in Omi, Kuwana in Ise, Handa and Sue in Owari, in search of high-quality clay. In the third year of the Ninji era (1242) of the reign of Emperor Shijo, he was greatly pleased to see that the clay used in Seto Village in Owari Province in Seto Village, Owari Province, he was greatly pleased to see that they were using the clay from his grandmother’s home – the clay from his mother’s home (red-colored wood-grain clay), and he opened kilns in the area around Umagajo, Kosone, and Tsubaki, and produced finely glazed pottery. The types of pottery made included salt jars, flower vases for Buddhist altars, graters, small bowls, sake bottles in the shape of bottles, and large and small plates and jars, and it is said that he made tea caddies with shoulder supports in his later years. In fact, 694 years have passed since Kagehira opened a pottery here.
Kenkan Tenmoku glaze
In addition to the traditional lead-colored, brown, and green glazes, they also produced glazed ware using the Kenkan Tenmoku glaze (a black colored glaze made using iron, named after the era of Emperor Xian of the Later Han Dynasty, which was the era of Emperor Chuai of Japan). It is said that the Tenmoku tea bowls that were brought back by Japanese Zen monks who studied at the Tenmoku Mountains in the Song Dynasty were highly prized for their unique glaze, and became very popular among tea masters. The works of this Keisei period are the Ko-Seto that are so loved by people in later generations.
A generic term for pottery
Until this time, pottery was generally considered to be the exclusive property of the nobility and wealthy, but as Seto pottery production flourished in later years, it came to be used more widely by the general public, and later on, the generic term for pottery in the Kanto region came to be called Setomono. Kagemasa was enshrined as a deity of pottery in the precincts of the Fukagawa Shrine in this area. The development of Seto has now reached the point where the city system has been introduced.
Shiro
Kato Shirozaemon His name was shortened to Shirozaemon, and later he took the name Shunkei. He was the son of Shirozaemon Norikane (also known as Tachibana Motoyasu), a resident of the village of Shomikage in Morowa, Yamato Province, and his mother was said to be the daughter of Hiromichi, a resident of Fukakusa. He once served the Grand Minister Kuga Michichika, but when he retired and went to make pottery in Fukakusa, he was able to follow the monk Dogen into his retirement because of their shared connection to Kuga Michichika’s second son. He is said to have passed away on March 19th, 1284 at the age of 82, and was posthumously awarded the rank of “Shō-go-i” on November 18th, 1906.
Ban on the consumption of alcohol
By the time of the reign of Emperor Go-Fukakusa, the Hojo clan, which was lacking in financial resources, had gone beyond the principles of diligence and simplicity, and his son, Aoto Fujitsuna, had even gone so far as to go out to pick up coins in the river. on the 30th day of the 9th month (1252), he banned the sale of sake and ordered that each household was only allowed to have one sake jar, and all other sake jars were destroyed. It is said that in Kamakura alone, 37,274 sake jars were destroyed. If you consider how many there were throughout the whole country, you can imagine how many there were, and this was a major blow to the production of earthenware pots.
Kiseido
During the Bun’ei era (1264-1275) of the Emperor Kameyama, Kato Fujikuro Mototsune, the second generation of the Keisho family, produced a very Japanese-style refined product called Kiseido, which was a crude form of celadon ware, at the Nekoda, Itaya and Nando kilns. This is a famous product known as the “true old article” in the world. (During the Kan’ei era, the Shogunate’s physician, Soya Hakuan, kept a tea tray made of Kise-do ware in his possession. People of the time praised it, and the same type of ware that was made at the time came to be called Hakuan ware as well.)
Shigaraki ware
Shigaraki ware was created in Nagano Village (Koga County), Omi Province (present-day Shiga Prefecture) in 1289, during the second year of the Kōan era of the Emperor Go-Uda’s reign. Many of the pots were used as seed pots or seed soaking pots by farmers, and the good ones were those with a very hard, heavy yellowish-red glaze and a light blue glaze on the surface. The products of this period are known as “old Shigaraki”.
Kinkazan ware
The ware made by Kato Fujigoro Kagekuni III at the Ibarasama, Kobayashi and Tono kilns during the Einan era (1293-1299) of the Go-Fukimi Emperor is known as kochu-yaki ware. In addition, he transported clay from Mt. Kinka (Awa-gun, Inaba-yama) in Mino Province to Seto and created Kinka-yaki. This was a type of pottery with a brownish-red glaze and speckles of black glaze.
The failure of Gyosho
In the Shouan era (1299-1302) of the same period, a monk named Gyosho was entrusted with the task of making pottery, and he taught the method to a tile maker from Fukakusa, but because he did not have the right equipment or know the details of the method, he was unable to make many pieces.
Maruchibayaki
Maruchibayaki ware was invented in Iga Province (present-day Aya County, Aya County) during the Kemmu era (1334-1338) of Emperor Godaigo. It is said that it was invented during the Tempyo-Houu era (757-765), but it is said that it was discontinued. The glaze is blue-yellow or pure white, and occasionally red glaze is applied , or where natural blown glaze was applied to create a sense of elegance, or where a thick layer of blue glaze was applied, but then the pottery was burned to a black color at a high temperature. These were particularly highly prized, and were called Ko-Iga.
(There was a master potter called Shinjiro in the Tensho era. In later years, when Todo Izumi no Kami Takatora came to rule Iga, he invited Kyoto potters Magobei and Denzo to make pottery, and the pottery they made was called Todo Iga In the Kan’ei era (1624-1645), Kobori Enshu Masakazu taught the local potters how to make tea utensils, and the resulting tea utensils were thin and of a high quality, and they were known as Enshu Iga.
Ha-fute
In the same Kemmu era (1334-1338), Kato Tozaburo Masanori, a master potter of the fourth generation of the Keisho family, created a tea jar with a ha-fute shape. The shape of the jar, which is formed by the glaze not reaching the top of the jar, exposes the texture of the clay, and the shape of the jar resembles the gables of a house, hence the name. The glaze is a brownish-red color with yellow applied on top, and some pieces have a walnut-shaped pattern. In addition, there is a specialty called Shibukami-te, and this is also called Chuukoyaki in later generations.
The Yoshino Asa period was followed by the Nanbokucho period, during which time there were frequent battles and conflicts. In Kyushu, the local people armed along the northern coast constantly threatened Korea. repeatedly sent envoys to request permission, but in July of the 9th year of Genkyuu (1392) the Goryeo Kingdom fell and was replaced by the Yi Dynasty, and there were no particularly noteworthy events in our pottery history during this period.
Muromachi Ashikaga Period = Revival of Ibe Ware
In the reign of Emperor Go-Komatsu, the Northern and Southern Courts were reunited, and the country was finally at peace. During the Oei era (1394-1428), Ibe ware (Waki County) was revived in Bizen Province. This area also produced Imari ware, which was called Imbe ware, but later the name was changed to Ibe (or Matajiribe). The products were seed jars and other agricultural tools, but they also made vases and sake jars, and from around the Tensho era they began to make tea utensils. The old Bizen ware from this area includes such famous pieces as Hi-dashi, Matsuba-kou and Enokihada.
(Later, a type called Komayaku was produced, which was made by sprinkling a dark yellow glaze over a brownish-tea glaze.
The arrival of Seven-Palette Celadon
At this time, communication with Ming China became more frequent, and on August 3rd, 1403, a monk from that country named Qiyang presented four books of poetry and several pieces of pottery as a tribute to the Japanese court. And the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (who took the Buddhist name of Dōsen after he had been tonsured; he died on January 18, 1428, at the age of 43) entertained the Ming envoys at the Kitayama Tei. The name “Shichikantō” is thought to have come from the fact that the first group of visitors to Japan came on board a ship belonging to a government official of the seventh rank in the Japanese court system. The goods that arrived in the Tenshō and Bunroku eras are called “Chūdō”, and those that arrived around the time of the Enpō era are called “Kōdō” or “Shindō”.
Soami Nohami Shuko
In the reign of Emperor Go-Hanazono, the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (who took the Buddhist name Doko and later the name Tokei; he died on January 7th, 1490 at the age of 56) had a retainer named Soami ( Nakao (real name: Shinso, pen name: Kangei, also known as Shosetsusai, the designer of the garden at Ginkakuji) was extremely knowledgeable about old artifacts, and he recommended rare and unusual items. In addition, the Nanto priest Nōami (whose family name was Shinnōōsai, and who was also known by the pseudonyms Shunōsai and Shūbunmonka) was an expert in tea ceremony, and he improved on the tea ceremony methods of the Tang and Song dynasties to create the first set of rules for the tea ceremony.
From this, tea masters such as Murata Shuko (also known as Mokichi, whose pen name was Dokuro Matkaian Nansen. He was a disciple of Ikkyu and died on May 15th, 1502 at the age of 81) emerged, and the popularity of this art form led to a love of tea utensils. The extravagant Yoshimasa’s taste for the ornate and the simple tea ceremony taste brought about great changes in the world of art at the time.
Mino ware
In the seventh year of the Bunmei era (1475) of the Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado, Kato Kagenobu, a resident of the Kura-ki district of Musashi Province, came to Okawa Village in the Ena district of Mino Province to make pottery. He is known as the founder of Mino ware.
Shino style
During the Bunmei era (1469-1487), Shino Munenobu (also known as Saburozaemon, a master of the art of incense, who died on August 12th, 1482 at the age of 82) was a retainer of Yoshimasa, and he loved the glaze of the Chinese Ko kilns, which was similar to the Hyakusaka glaze produced in Seto at the time. From then on, this type of glazed pottery came to be called Shino ware. The glaze is thick and made only from feldspar, and small cracks appear in the milky white glaze, and there are red stains on the edge of the glaze. It is likely that this type of ware was already being produced before this, and that it was later given a high value by later generations due to its association with the name Shino.
Shoshinshunkei
During the Bunmei era (1464-1467), Yamana Tadamasa, a retainer of Yamana Sōzen, took a liking to pottery and studied the techniques under Kato Shunkei (probably the 67th generation Shunkei), but the pieces he made were also called Shoshinshunkei.
Muromachi Warring States Period = Amiya
During the Eisho era (1504-1521) of the Emperor Go-Kashiwabara, a Korean potter named Amiya (also known as Ama-jii) came to Kyoto and became a son-in-law of Sasaki Nao, who lived on the north side of the Nishinotoin Street. he became a son-in-law of Sasaki Nao and became naturalized, and was called Yagichi Matasugiyoshi, but later changed his name to Sokei (who died in 1574 at the age of 82). He made elegant earthenware using his fingers instead of a potter’s wheel, but he was not very good at it, so he did not make many pieces, and he sent his son Chojiro to Korea to study, and from then on his techniques became more and more refined, and the Raku style of pottery became very popular.
Shōō Shingaku
Around this time, Shōō Shingaku was founded by the tea master Takeno Jōō (died on the 29th of the 10th month in the extra-long 1555th year of the Inaba-no-kami era, aged 53).
Shidoro ware
Shidoro ware was first produced in Yokooka Village (in Haibara County), Totomi Province, during the Daiei era (1521-1528) of the Emperor Go-Nara, but it was mainly used for tea containers and vases.
The Port of Hirado was Opened
In the 19th year of the same era (1550), the port of Hirado in Hizen Province was opened in response to the needs of the Portuguese. This marked a new era in Japanese trade, and the importation of the strange pottery they brought with them provided a new stimulus to the world of Japanese pottery.
Tea caddy with a lid that can be removed
In the same Tenbun era, in Akitsu village, Yamada county, Owari province (now part of Seto city), a tea caddy with a lid that can be removed (the glaze has many thick streaks of tears, and the inside of the bottom is glazed, so the clay can be seen, hence the name “lid that can be removed”) was made to the taste of Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was known as Akitsu Saburozaemon. This tea container is now known as the “Omoigawa” and is a famous item.
Hatta ware
In the Tensho era (1573-1593), a man named Gensai took the name of his place of residence as his surname, and this is how the Hatta ware came to be known as the Hatta ware. In the Tensho era (1573-1593), a man named Gensai took the name of the place where he lived as his surname, and began to make rokuro (roasting trays for tea ceremony) called “hokuro matte poroku arui or irokani” (written in various ways). It was praised as being of the finest quality, light and snow-white, and Hideyoshi bestowed on it the title of “the best in the world”
According to the Englishman Ralph Fitch, who was in the area of Ushibuka in 1558, Portuguese traders who came to Japan from China or Macao would send white silk, gold, musk, or pottery, but never anything else except silver.
Nanban goods
It is not difficult to imagine that the pottery brought by the Portuguese was manufactured in China, Annam, Lu-sung, and Kho-chi-wen, which were the ports of call on their route. Macao is also written as Amao or Ah-mao, and is also called Tien-chuan, and is also called Xiangshanwan. The port is located in the delta of the Pearl River in Guangdong Province, China, and has been a Portuguese territory since ancient times. Although pottery was not produced in this area, it is thought that the products of the aforementioned southern region were traded here. It can be seen that the Japanese, having come into contact with this rare pottery, were filled with the desire to somehow reproduce it. At that time, in Japan, this type of pottery was called Nanbanzai, Korean pottery was called Koryo-mono, and Chinese pottery was called Nankin-mono.
Nobunaga’s inspection tour of Seto
In the sixth month of the same year (1563), Oda Nobunaga of Owari inspected the pottery industry in Seto, which was in his territory, while out hawking, and prohibited the collection of new taxes and the use of local or official pledges (when a debtor fails to fulfill their payment obligations, their property is seized as collateral. to seize the property of the debtor, and to confiscate the property of the debtor as soon as it is found, regardless of where it is located.
He also gave a copy of the regulations to Kato Manuemon Motonori (the son of Fujibe Motonaga), the twelfth generation descendant of Kageyoshi.
Nobunaga also greatly enjoyed tea and tea ceremonies, and he collected famous tea utensils from all over the country and presented them to those who had distinguished themselves. This led to the spread of the tea ceremony and the encouragement of the production of tea utensils.
Opening of Nagasaki Port
In the same year, the ports of Hirado and Fukuda in Hizen Province, which had previously been opened as trading ports, were closed and moved to Fukaeura in the same province, which is now Nagasaki Port. From this time on, foreign goods were frequently imported through this port, and in later years, the export of ceramics was established in this area.
Oribe ware of the Azuchi-Momoyama period
In the first year of the Tensho era (1573), Kato Gorosamon Kageyutaka (later changed to Kogosamon Kagehisa), the second son of Seto Abutsu potter Kageharu, came to Ohira in Kuguri Village (Kani County) in Mino Province with his younger brother Shigeyutaka (later changed to Iyemon) and opened a pottery.
Protection of Seto potters
On the 11th day of the first month of the second year of the Tensho era (1574), Oda Nobunaga surveyed the lineage of the Seto pottery masters and restricted the number of kilns in order to protect them. and also exempted them from the obligation to pay taxes on their wares, and granted this red seal to Kato Ichizaemon Kageshige (the 11th generation Kageshige).
The kiln license of a famous Seto potter
The most prominent potters in Seto at the time were: Souemon (Kato Souemon Kageharu, also known as Matashiroemon, died on January 28th, 1566), Kuchin Inshakomon (Kato Inshakomon Kageshige, also known as Harukatsu, later changed his name to Kagekou, the third son of Kageshige), Juin Shouemon (Kato Shouemon Kagesada, also known as Iemon, later changed his name to Kageyama, the fourth son of Kageshige) Kumon (Kato Kumon Kagetada, later known as Iemon, and also known as Kageyama, “some say he was also known as Tokuan”; the fourth son of Kageharu) □印長十 (Takashima Chojuro Chogen, also known as Masamasa Gen, the younger brother of Kageharu, the son of Kato Jukumon Motomura, the second son of Takashima Tohei Motonaga, the son of Jukumon Nobunaga. (the founder of Seto-hiki-dashi black ware) ○-in Taihei (Kato Genjuro Kageshige, also known as Taihei, and also known as Haku-an or Shunpaku, the son of Kato Zouemon Kagehisa) ○-in Shinbei (unknown, but must be a member of the Kato family) etc.
As mentioned above, all of these potters were particularly skilled in the production of tea utensils, and all of them engraved their kiln marks on their products. This is said to be the first time that a responsible signature was engraved on one’s own work. It seems that the term “the Six Works of Seto” was coined by later generations to refer to these six potters.
Baking tiles in the Ming style
In the same year as the construction of Omi Province’s Azuchi Castle by Nobunaga Oda (1576), a tile maker named Ikkan, who had come from Fuzhou in the Ming Dynasty and was living in Hirado in Hizen Province, was summoned to Takashima County to bake tiles in the Ming style to be used for the roof of the castle tower. This was the first time that Ming-style roof tiles were used in Japan, and they replaced the traditional cloth-patterned tiles that had been used up until that point. (In later years, Ikkan’s son, Okubo Iwamori Nagayasu, became the governor of Sado Island)
Chosyu’s Raku ware
In the same year (1577), Nobunaga ordered Chosyu Tanaka (also known as Chojiro), the son of Sasaki Munenori, to make two types of tea bowls, one with a white glaze and the other with a black glaze, in the style of his father’s tea bowls. (1595) on the 7th of September, at the age of 74). He ordered his father, Rōkei, to make two types of tea bowls, one with a white glaze and the other with a black glaze.
Gunji ware
In the same year as 1577, Kato Shinkomon Kagetaka, the eldest son of Kagekyu, opened a pottery in Gunji (in the Toki district) in Mino Province, together with his younger brother, Kagenari.
Rikyu was given a high salary
In the same year (1578), Nobunaga gave the tea ceremony master Sen no Rikyu (a student of Takeno Jouou, also known as Sōetsu, and also known as Yoshiro Mata Hōsen-sai, who was granted the title of “Koji” by Emperor Shōchō, was ordered to commit suicide by Hideyoshi on February 28th, 1591 (at the age of 71).
Sarutsuwa Kiln
In the spring of the same year (1578), Kato Iemon Kagetada (who died on September 20th, 1624 in Ohira) opened a kiln in Sarutsuwa, Tōmura (Ena County), Mino Province.
Hideyoshi summons the six families of Ibe
In the same month of March in the 10th year of Tensho (1582), when Hideyoshi Hashiba was in Bizen as the governor of the Chugoku region, he stayed at the house of Daisho Gorozaemon, one of the six families of the Hashi family of Ibe, and had the other five families, Mori, Kimura, Togu, Kanashige and Terao, make tea bowls and vases. From this point on, Hideyoshi protected the six families of potters, and issued an edict forbidding anyone to set up a camp in the area.
Bizen ware includes Ibe no Ao Bizen (also called Ao-ikibe, a reduction-fired, blue-grey ware fired in old-style underground kilns), Iro Bizen (a type of unglazed ware fired at Okayama’s Korakuen by the third lord of the Ikeda clan, Munemasa, in the Hōei era from the third generation Ikeda Munemasa, and there was a famous potter called Mikazuki Rokubei in the Genki era. (In the Shoutoku era, there was Untei; in the Enkyo era, there was Kimura Jinshichi; in the Houreki era, there was Hattori Heishiro; in the Meiwa era, there was Kimura Sakujuro; in the An’ei era, there was Ohira Juro; in the Temmei era, there was Kimura Shohachi; in the Kyowa era, there was Mori Yoshiaki; in the Bunka era, there was Moichi; and in the Kaei era, there was Kimura Heihachiro, etc.)
Kato Kageaki
In the same year as Tensho 11 (1583), Kato Okumibe Kageaki, the son-in-law of Kagehisa, came to the county of Mino and produced white glazed pottery. He had previously presented a tea jar to Nobunaga, and was awarded a red seal in recognition of his work. He also created Setoguro Tenmoku, which he presented to Emperor Go-Shōtoku, and was entrusted with the role of Togonomori, a famous artisan of the time.
Pottery bullets
In the same year, Hideyoshi ordered the pottery craftsmen of Seto to make bullets out of pottery, and it is said that they were used in the battle of Nagakute in Owari on April 9th of the same year.
The height of the tea ceremony
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the nation, he appointed Sen no Rikyu as his advisor and brought the tea ceremony to its height. The tea masters San’ai Hosokawa Tadaoki (Etchu no Kami Hajime Yoichiro), Nioan Oda Chobon (Yurakusai Shigenori), Inzai Furuta Shigekatsu (Oribe Shosuke), Taigen Kanamori Nagachika (Izumo no Kami Shigoro Hachi), and many other famous tea masters of the time.
Oribe style
Among them, Shigekatsu Furuta (also known as Housouhou Koshi, who was ordered to commit suicide by setting fire to Kyoto on June 11th, 1615, at the age of 72) ordered a pottery in Narumi (Aichi County), Owari Province, to make a tea jar of his own design. These were decorated with many flowers and plants in a dark brown and green glaze, and are known as Oribe ware.
(In addition to this Narumi Oribe, there were also black Oribe, blue Oribe, red Oribe, hinoki Oribe, Oribe Shino, etc., all of which were produced in Seto. In later years, the name Ina Oribe was given to the ware fired under the orders of Ina Bizen no Kami Tadatsugu.
Oribe, the famous potter
In the 13th year of the Tensho era (1585), Furuta Shigekatsu visited the Oribe area from time to time and encouraged the production of tea utensils, creating the elegant Oribe style. The famous potter of the time, “Ka” In Hachiroji (Kato Hachiroji Keiho, also known as Hachiroemon, the grandson of Sokeimon Motomura, the second son of Sukeemon Keiei) “Yama” In Kichiemon (Kato Kichiemon Shigeki, the second son of Shinsukeemon Keishige, the fourth generation of Motomura) ) “田”印金九郎 (Kinkuro Kato is the younger brother of Fujishiro Motoharu. He is the eldest son of the fourth generation Soemon Masatsune. ) “セ”印治兵衛 (Jihei Kato is the son of the fifth generation Soemon Masatsune’s branch family, Sohei. ) “七”印半七、“サ”印六兵衛、”?” , “1” Inzaemon, “㊀” Inzaemon, “イ” Inzaemon, “十” Inzaemon, “八” Inzaemon, the above ten people are also called the ten works of Oribe’s taste, and like the six works mentioned above, this is also the work of later generations.
