It is said that the followers of the descent of the Gods made pottery in Kagamidani, Omi, but the ancient event is vague and cannot be determined. The earliest history of Korean pottery production in Japan can be said to have begun in the region of Karatsu, Saga Prefecture.
The Expedition of Empress Jingu
In October of the 9th year of the 14th Emperor Nakai’s reign, Empress Jingu went on an expedition to conquer Sanhan (Korea), apparently using the port of Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, as her base of operations.
Before Departure
The Empress pulled a line out of her clothes and fished from a rock in the Tamashima River to see if she would have good luck on her expedition, and when she caught a large scented fish, she said, “This is a rare occurrence. This is why the area was called “Mezura,” which became “Matsuura” with an accent. (The village of Matsuura is now called Kagami, Karatsu, Saga Prefecture.)
Thus, in a little more than three months, the empress went off to the three Koreas (Korea), where she was given a famous sword with two handles by the king of Baekje for self-defense and to avenge his enemies. The hostages of the three Koreans who followed her on her triumphal return opened a kiln in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, and fired unglazed pottery in the style of yakishime, which is said to be the origin of Karatsuyaki.
The Naturalization of the Three Officials
According to the inscription, the hostages were three Korean princes taken by Takeuchi Sukune, all of whom were sent to Sashi in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, and settled there, changing their names to Taro Kanja, Tohei Kanja, and Kojiro Kanja. Today, they are known as Tara in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, Fujinohira in Genkai Town, Higashimatsuura County, Saga Prefecture, and Oaza Kojikanja in Nashikawachi, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. However, if the prince of Sanhan could not stay in the border region, he was definitely taken to the capital, but given that he was allowed to return to this region, he was not of noble birth. Alternatively, there is a theory that he was naturalized in Japan during the Genpei period, considering the writing down of kanja as kanja, but the extent to which he was transliterated and how he came to be used in later periods is unknown.
Kojiro, a potter, was so skilled that he engaged in pottery making in his hometown, and his works were passed down from generation to generation, and he was said to have made pottery for many years. There is a shrine in Nashigawauchi, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, dedicated to Kojiro Kajo, and a festival is held here at the kiln every year on December 22.
The Beginning of Karatsu Pottery
Next, Koreans who came to Japan during the reign of the 37th Emperor Saimei made large Koryo style tea bowls here, which was the beginning of glazed pottery that came to be called Koryo ware in Japan, and this area was called Sue-mura (pottery was originally called Sue-mono, and the village was also called Sue-mura in the past). In short, Kitahata Village has a place name of Tokusue, but it used to be called Tokusue, so it is not certain if this is the site of this survey.
The kiln was opened here 1,275 years ago, when the Empress went to Tsukushi to join the Silla invasion. Thus, there is a view that Matsuura became a base for every war and was passed down for the development of Japanese pottery making.
Visit of Choi Chi and his party
On July 18, 16th year of the Emperor Seiwa, a Chinese ship carrying 36 people, including the great Tang Dynasty merchant Choi Chi, arrived at Kami Matsuura Jikirinoura (now Mitsushima), and this area became a trading port between China, Korea, and India. This is why this area came to be called Karatsu and became a key trading port in northern Kyushu along with Chikuzen Hakata.
Karatsu Goods
It is not difficult to imagine that a large number of potters came to this region because of the wide variety of ceramics among the imported goods. Therefore, the origin of pottery making in this region is very old, and just as Setomono is the general term for pottery in the Kanto region, it came to be called Karatsu-mono in the Kansai region. In some areas, pottery is called Karatsu-mono and porcelain Imari-mono.
Koryo and Karatsu
Koryo ceramics produced in Japan are not only products of Anakatsu Karatsu, but can also be called Korean old ceramics, which may or may not have been made by Koreans in the territories of Saga, Takeo, Hirado, and Omura. In the mountainous areas where Koreans opened kilns at that time, burial mounds can be found in many places, and earthenware excavated from kiln sites and monoharas (places where pottery and fragments of kiln tools were discarded) are called dugout karatsu and dugout koryo. There is also the famous Hito Karatsu, which was made of Korean clay and fired in Japan, hence the name Hibakari, meaning only the fire is Japanese.
Karatsu Ware and Koryo Ware
Compared to Koryo-So, which came from Korea, there are some differences in the clay used, but both were made by the same Korean artisans, and it is difficult to accurately identify which is Joseon and which is Dangjin. Looking at the technical progress of Joseon ruan-han, there are not a few works from around the second and third generations of the Kuehka people that are superior to works from the home country, such as almanac hand inlays and brush marks. Works that show the Japanese taste for the tea ceremony can also be found in this period.
Hata Hisamo
During the reign of the 38th Emperor Tenchi (1275), Hata Hisamo was sent down from the capital to guard against invasion by foreign enemies, and his descendants held Kaminatsuura for over 400 years. He built a mansion at the foot of Onikodake (now Kishidake, Kitahata Village, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture) and ruled this area, which came to be known as Hata in later times.
In the first year of Emperor Ichijo’s reign, Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a descendant of the Seiwa Minamoto clan, was appointed provincial governor of Hizen and sent to Kami Matsuura. On Kabeshima is the Tajima Shrine, which enshrines Princess Tajima, Princess Itadohime, and Princess Ichikishima.
The stone torii gate enshrining them is said to have been donated by Yorimitsu at that time. One of the Four Heavenly Kings who followed them at that time was Watanabe Gengobetsu Tatsuna, the founder of the Hizen Matsuura Minamoto clan.
Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Tsuna
Tsuna was a nephew of Yorimitsu, who was a grandson of Saga Genji Kawahara Left Minister Suke, son of Minoda Genji Betsutomitsu, and mother of Tada Mitsunaka. The genealogy of the Matsuura family is as shown on the left.
(See Genealogy of the Matsuura Genji Clan)
Hisa: Defeat Hisahiro
Watanabe Genbetsu Touhisa, son of Tsuna, who was in Kyoshi at the time, set up camp at Kami Matsuura Chisoga in the 4th year of Chougen and attacked and defeated Hisahiro, who chased him to the Matsuura riverbank and killed him. (The reason this area is called Onizuka Village is probably due to the grave of Hisahiro, who was feared like an ogre at that time.)
Defeat of Bizan
However, in the 2nd year of Chokyu, Watanabe Genbetsu Tokyu, together with his third son, Kamae Saburo Tadashi, attacked and subdued Hata no Zankyo, who was at Bizan (the border of Matsuura, Okawa, and Wakagi villages) and frequently threatened villagers in the area. (It is said that the stone of Gokyu-san in Amagitani, Chisoga belonged to this Hisa.)
Hisashi and Tai
Hisa’s younger brother, Nakoya Hyoue Lieutenant Tei, lived in the Nakoya residence and was called Nakoya-dono, while his son and Tai were called Takiguchi-tayu. He once went to Kyoshi to guard the Imperial Palace. On December 29, the first year of Emperor Go-Sanjo’s reign, he landed at Shimomatsuura Imafuku and made this his headquarters. (It is said that Hisashi Kisho landed at Imafuku, but he was only 6 years old at the time.)
Construction of Kajiya Castle
In the first year of Emperor Horikawa’s reign, Yasu’s eldest son, Gentayu Hangan Hisashi (33 years old at the time), built Kajidani Castle and laid the foundation for the Matsuura Genji clan, which is said to have flourished with 2,230 towns in the Matsuura area and over 40 descendants. He was buried at Toryoji Temple in this area.
Hata Mochi
The Matsuura clan was succeeded by Mikuriya Kiminao, and his third son, Genjiro Mochi, took the name Hata of Kamimatsuura. 750 years ago, Mochi built a castle at Onikotake, known as Koshimine Castle, which became a powerful fortress in the region. Mochi changed the name of the place to Hata and changed his name to Hata Genji-tayu.
Onikotake Kiln
It is said that Mochi invited a descendant of the aforementioned Kojiro Kanja to open a kiln in Iidong-ong (Ayui, Kitahata Village), located in the mountains below Onikotake Castle. There is also a theory that Eastern Europeans came to Japan from Korea at this time, but it is not certain. In later years, some of the potters from Iidong Jar were sent to Koshii (the old name of Shi no Mine in Minamihata Village), and it is said that pottery spread widely among the people of this region.
Split bamboo kiln
The old kilns at Onibitadake have been known for a long time, but they were extensively investigated by Kyoichi Kanehara, an old potter from Takeo, and Taroemon Nakazato from Karatsu. As a result, the Iidong jar and paulownia wood panel were found to be from the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, built about 700 years ago, which caused a great stir in the academic world.
The split bamboo type is in the shape of a kamaboko, which looks like a round bamboo folded in half. The length of the Iidong jar kiln is 16.4 meters, and the paulownia wood panel kiln is about 18.5 meters, separated from it by a distance of about 36 meters, both of which are divided into five or six chambers inside.
The long kiln partitions built on this slope later became climbing kilns with a series of round kilns, and are valuable materials for studying kiln building in this area.
Kai Takadai and Yaki-hama
One of the products of this old kiln is shellfish-topped pottery, in which five or six small shellfish, such as clams and asari clams, were placed on the top of the pottery and fired. The hama (fireproof earthenware base) still retains traces of shellfish.
Shells were placed on the hama to prevent the vessel and hama from baking together. Shells are calcium carbonate and do not dissolve on their own.
Unraveling the rice husk bedding marks
The rice husk marks left on the tatami mats of the takadai (the foot edge of the takadai, where the tatami mats are attached) are different from those of modern shelving boards, which are made of flat ground and lined with rice husks and other materials. These are not the marks made by burning rice husks. As in the case of the shell plateau described in the previous section, rice husks are placed on the plateau to prevent the vessel and the hama from burning each other, but although scarlet marks appear on the plateau, it is not dented.
The quality of the products here is extremely high, and all are glazed; the fact that such excellent ceramics were being produced at the same time as, or even before, Kato Shunkei came to Tang in 1242 and opened a kiln is unprecedented in Japan, and tells us that Karatsu ware production has developed over a long period of time. This is a testament to the long development of Karatsu-yaki production.
After the Iidogama and Kirikiban kilns, the Hobashira kiln (Kitahata, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture) was built, and the Sanyadani kiln (Sari, Sachi, Sachi, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture), Hiramatsu kiln (Sari, Sachi, Sachi, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture), Otani kiln (Sari, Sachi, Sachi, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture) and Saraya kiln (Kitahata, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture) were opened, all called the Onikotake kilns. Hieda ware refers to the Saraya kiln, and Sanyadani is also called Donyadani.
Iidong Kiln
Most of the vessels from the old Iidong jar kilns were fired with a burnt brown glaze, but some of them were decorated with a blue sea wave pattern in iron or white glaze with various designs carved on the rim. There are also jade-rim style kataguchi, Tenryuji light celadon, and Nanakanote dish bowls with the same glaze. There are also tea bowls and plates with iron cats painted with a brush in light glaze of the same color on gray clay, but all of them are unglazed with a high stand.
However, there is a rare example of a large tea bowl in the shape of a morning glory with a light yellow glaze, which may have been made in a slightly later period. The place name Iidong may refer to the fact that later pottery was exclusively made of large water jars and pots.
Hozabashi
Hozashira kilns produced their own light green, white, and blue-brown glazes on black clay, and the backs of the pots are decorated with thread cutting. Some of the wares show kiln-forming in the style of the Hitotsugama kilns, and some have a pale lapis lazuli color, but all have minute double penetrations on the glaze surface. On rare occasions, white cobbles have developed after years of exposure to the elements, but this is probably due to the fragility of the geology, similar to that of earthenware.
Sanyadani
The Sanyadani kiln is where Edo Karatsu ware was fired by Kyuichi Furudate and Tarouemon Nakazato in Karatsu on May 22, 1934. Originally, this kiln was not supposed to produce painted Karatsu ware, but pieces of pottery with good coloration such as iron painting were discovered one after another, and rare items such as ebi-e (shrimp painting) and hana-e (flower painting) were found, which were not found in the Edokaratsu of Yurai, and the style of Korean culture was incorporated into this ware.
Hieda Saraya
Hieda Saraya’s old kilns are representative of Karatsu ware in the Joseon Karatsu style. Among its masterpieces are kohiki handles, kyun-kiln sea squirt style, and Karatsu seijo kutsu pots. This area was the former residence of Nakamura Aki-mori Toshitada, a chief vassal of the Hatamochi clan. Today, many people with the family name Imagoeriki (formerly Takariki) are descendants of Koreans who came to this area.
Around the time Hatamochi built Onikotake, that is, during the Bunji period of the Emperor Go-Toba, he became a member of the Kusano Jirotasuke Nagamoto clan, a resident of Chikugo Province, and lived in Onigajo in Kaminatsuura Omura (Tamashima Village). Onigajo is an ancient Korean-style earthen castle, and is said to be the oldest castle built in Japan after Kiinagi Castle in Kamihizen.
Kusano Kagenaga
Thereafter, the fifth generation, Kusano Shichirou Yukinaga (從四位), became famous for his bravery in the Battle of Bun’ei Koan, in which he and the Matsuura clan repulsed numerous foreign enemies. Descendants of his elder brother Eikane lived in Onigajo for generations.
Yamase Pottery
In the mountainous area of Hamasaki, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, there is an old Karatsu ware called Yamase-yaki. The old pottery includes plates with designs of flowers, grasses, and knotted birds, as well as deep tea bowls made of stone with a light yellow glaze. There is also a white glazed dish with cracks, a small dish with a similar yellow Seto glaze, and a large tea bowl of hoya from the same kiln, all with crepe creases on the unglazed high base. The unglazed elevations of the small sky-blue glazed dishes in particular are oval in shape, elegant, and often fired to the level of stoneware. There are also some misshapen stoneware pieces, five or six centimeters high, with a black glaze reminiscent of pottery, like a narrow-mouthed jar at halfway height, the so-called woozuru.
It is said that Kusano, the lord of the castle, invited a branch of the Kojiro Kansha family to open a kiln here, but the history of this kiln is not certain.
Onikotake Castle was a powerful castle during the reign of Hata Yasu, and by the Bunmei era it was a fiefdom of Ichibanki Province.
The Struggle for Succession to Onikotake Castle
When the fifth Shimono no Morimori died, he had no son to succeed him, and his widow, Shinpojo (niece of Matsuura Okinobu, wife of Taku Yorimatsu), tried to support her relative Arima Yoshinao’s son, Todomaru, but his chief vassal, Hidaka Yamatomori Saishu (Ariura 1,000 koku), opposed this, and ordered him to be succeeded by Mori’s brother Ichiban Kigataka, who was a great warrior. He tried to take it from the three children of Shima Moritaka, the castle of Kigataka. This led to an uproar in the Hata family.
Yamato was poisoned to death.
In the 13th year of Tenbun, Yamato, the ringleader of the plot, was poisoned by his widow in anger toward Hideyoshi. On December 29, Eiroku 7, Yamato’s son, Kaimori Kabuhide, set fire to the stables of Onikotake Castle and joined forces with his gang to kill the widow. However, Manpojo escaped and turned to Ryuzoji Gochu (Iekane Nyudo) of Saka, while Kohide turned to Matsuura Takanobu of Hirado. Takanobu led 300 cavalrymen to Hoshika, but unfortunately they were unable to attack Onikotake Castle due to a rain storm.
At this time, Ryuzoji Takanobu, grandson of Gochu, attacked Kishidake Castle for his widow, and Fusuhide was defeated and fled to Ichibanki. Kai then had Matsuura Takanobu’s fourth son, Nobumasa, marry a woman, and the two became a couple to each other, and Iki was actually annexed to Hirado.
Inheritance of Jin Hata
Thus, Onikotakejo took Fujishigemaru of Arima as his successor, taking the name Taroujirojin and later changing it to Mikawamori. However, in order to punish the Hata family members who opposed his succession, he attacked Tsuruta Masaru, lord of the castle in Hijizai, Okawano (Okawa-cho, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), but Jin was defeated and finally returned home, relying on Kusano Chin’ei.
Defrauding and Defeating the Sogun
On April 10, Gengaku 2, Hidaka Fusuhide arrived at Nakoyaura (later renamed Nagoya) with his brother Katsu Hidenobu and 300 men, including Nakao Chikara and others, to fight Aiura Nakamitsu, Horino Gengoro, and others from Onikotake Castle, where Gengoro was killed in battle. Mahojo inquired about Tsushima’s lord Somasa Masamori, and Takahide conspired with Tateishi Tusho and others to defeat the Tsushima forces at Motomiya Port in Ichibanki-kuni on July 16, 3.
Takanobu attacks Kaminatsuura
In December of the first year of Tensho, Ryuzoji Takanobu of Saga led his cousin Nabeshima Hibanmori Nobuo (Naoshige’s former name) in an attack on Kamimatsuura. Hata Mikawa Morichika, lord of Onikotake Castle, Tsuruta Echizen-mori, lord of Shishiga Castle (now northwest of Kimura-no-mi), Tsuruta Inaba-mori Katsu, lord of Hizai Castle, and others welcomed him and thanked him. On the third day of the first month of the second year, Ryuzoji’s forces attacked and defeated Onigajo Castle, and the lord of the castle, Kusano Chin’ei, ran to Takaso in Chikuzen and surrendered to Takanobu, relying on his father Harada Yoshihide, who adopted a son, Iesui (mother of Takanobu’s daughter) from the Ryuzoji family. Thus, Chin’ei died on February 20, Genna 3.
Hizen Domain
At that time, the lords of the Matsuura coast of Hizen Province consisted of five families (Imari, Yamashiro, Sashi, Hata, and Kusano) in Kamimatsuura and eight families (Arita, Tahira, Sasa, Mikuriya, Shisa, Yoshida, Oshima, and Uku) in Shimomatsuura. From this time on, they were ruled by Ryuzoji’s power, and then unified under Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s rule.
In Tensho 15, Hideyoshi went to Kyushu to conquer Shimazu Yoshihisa of Satsuma and brought Hata Chikashi (renamed Chin) under his command. At this time, Ryuzoji Masaya, son of Takanobu, held seven counties in Hizen and supported Masaya with two counties of Nabeshima Naoshige, Matsuura Chinobu in Hirado, Omura Juntada in Omura, Arima Junji in Shimabara, Ukyu Morikatsu in Goto, and Hata Oyasama in Karatsu.
They were displeased with their parents.
When Hideyoshi first entered Nagoya Castle in April of the first year of Bunroku, all the feudal lords of Kyushu came to Hakata to meet him, but Hatachika arrived too late and thus incurred Hideyoshi’s displeasure. Hata-chika’s army of 2,000 men joined Naoshige’s army and attacked deep into Joseon, marching as far as Suncheon, where they fought hard until they lost half of their command.
Entertainment at Nagoya
Hideyoshi once held a drinking party at his headquarters in Nagoya to relieve boredom. Daimyo (feudal lords) who were present at the battle and even men and women who were away from home, including feudal lords of the same family, were invited to the party. Hatachika’s wife declined the invitation for reasons of guarding her husband while he was away on campaign, but she was forcibly summoned to the castle and begged to return home, but was not pardoned.
Hata-chichi’s wife was accused of the crime.
However, when it was discovered that Hatachika’s wife had a small sword for self-defense hidden in her pocket, she was charged with a serious crime. Hatachika’s wife was the daughter-in-law of Takanobu, son of Toyozen-no-Mamoru Taneyoshi, and gave birth to Ryuzoji Takanobu in the village. She married Oda Tadamasa Shosuke Zhenmitsu, lord of Hasuchi Castle, but Zhenmitsu was killed because he turned Takanobu against Otomo Sorin.
Settlement of the Hata domain
In the first month of the first year of Keicho, Hatachika returned from Korea. Nagamasa Kuroda went to Ogawa Island and confiscated Hata Chikara’s lands by order of Hideyoshi, and entrusted him to Yoshinobu Satake of Hitachinaka.
Upon hearing this news, the people of Onikotake Castle were astonished.
The Great Council of Onikotake Castle
The Hata clan members who were in the castle at this time were: Shishiga Castle lord Tsuruta Echizen no Mamoru Mae (Tonoya 500 koku), Hizai Castle lord Tsuruta Inaba no Mamoru Katsu (Okawano 500 koku), Ubagashi Castle lord Kurokawa Sagentayu Shu (Kurokawa 500 koku), Shinkuda Castle lord Ide Hibata no Mori Togen (Ide field 500 koku), Hogyo Castle lord Kuga Genban Makoto Chichido (Itagi 800 koku), Hon Castle lord Kawazoe Kawazoe (800 koku), Kawazoe (500 koku), Nakamura Angei no Mamoru Chichido (500 koku), the lord of Hieda Castle, Ezato Nagato no Tenso (350 koku), the lord of Sachi Castle, and Tashiro Hyuga no Hayashi (300 koku), the lord of Okawano, were all prominent councillors.
At this time, the amateurs of Kumazaki were ready to attack the main camp of Nagoya, willing to die in order to clear the name of Matsuura warriors, but it was too reckless a plan to attack a castle with 100,000 garrisoned soldiers. The two men, Ezato Nagato Tenso and Iida Hikoshiro Hisamitsu (200 men in Kanda), were assigned to infiltrate the post under Mount Tsukuba in Hitachinokuni and recapture the Hatachikan family.
Myoan Nun
Myoan-ni (wife of Hata), who had once tried to take her own life, was admonished by her remaining relatives and went into hiding in Hazenotani (Minami Hata, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), but she and her son Yatarokichi (or Magosaburo or Hikosaburo) settled in Saga Castle under the protection of Musashige Yanami, Gorohachi Toshinori Mawatari and others. Hata’s wife shaved her hair and called herself Myoan-ni, and built a hermitage to pray for the repose of the souls of her late husband and son (the present Myoan-ji Temple on Myoan-ji Koji was built on the site of the hermitage).
The Hata clan was destroyed.
Hideyoshi, learning that the Hata clan was secretly plotting to join forces at Kempukuji Temple in Okawano, gave the castle to his vassal, Terasawa Chudairo Hirotaka, and gave him strict orders to leave the Hata clan. After many hardships and dances, Ezato and Iida, who were tasked with recapturing Hata Oyasama, were planning to take him back and join the ronin of Onikotake to hide in Kurogashiyama or go to the Daiboin in Imari, when he died of illness, putting an end to the 500-year history of the Saga Genji clan, which had been a famous family for 500 years since the 15th generation, Genji Tayu Mochi.
Onikotake Collapse
The birthplace of Karatsu ware is said to be in Onikotake Mountain. With the collapse of Onikotake, many potters were forced to leave Onikotake, and Gokasawara, who had been married or hidden away earlier, moved to Uenotani and Okawara (Minamihata, Imari City, Saga Prefecture) and relocated their kilns there. It is said that many ronin also moved to this area.
The kiln was moved a short distance away to Nagahayama in Mikawauchi, Hirado Territory, where he fired sea squirt glaze in a homogenous kiln.
Mori Zen’emon and Keienobu
The craftsmen of Onigake Kurage spread their kiln techniques throughout the country, but Mori Zen’emon, who had admired the kilns of Kato Kage’en of Kusjiri in Mino, finally accompanied Kage’en to Karatsu (Shiinomine), where his studies completely improved the conventional kiln and glaze methods in Mino, and he was given the title of “founder of Mino Chūoku no Okuni”. There is no doubt that this Mori Zen’emon is a remnant of Onikotake.
Ienaga Hikosaburo
According to various documents, when Hideyoshi was in Nagoya, he summoned Ienaga Hikosaburo Katachika from Takagise Village in Saga County, who had burned roof tiles for the construction of the castle, and had him burn tea utensils.
Nagoya Castle (rebuilt from the castle of Echizen-no-Mamoru, a descendant of Nagoya Hizen-no-Mamoru Yukimoto of the Hogen era) was completed in the spring of that year, and Hideyoshi entered the castle on April 25, Bunroku 1. However, it is hard to believe that a man who had been a tile craftsman for only a few months could have acquired such skill in ceramics that he was even given a red seal in such a short period of time.
Kawahara Residence
Kawahara Yashiki in Takagise Village is located on the banks of the Tawarayashiki and Tabuse Rivers. One theory is that Ienaga Hikosaburo and Masaki Choemon fired Hideyoshi’s vessels, but this is only an original and rare example from the Kawara Yashiki, which was actually made by Hiramatsu Gengoemon from pots and clay from Kukei-aza Kokubun in Kasuga Village (Sakae County).
Articles on Hizen Tiles
An article on Hizen tiles states that in Tensho 19, Ogawa Soemon received an order for Nagoya Castle keep tiles and fired them in Ezu, Ogi County. In the first year of Bunroku era (1688-1704), he was ordered by Makita Junnosuke, the magistrate of Nagoya Castle Fuchin, to build the castle tower, and in recognition of the speed of its completion, Hideyoshi gave him a red seal of Kyushu-ken Fuchin.
Naoshige’s construction of the castle tower
As described above, there are many exaggerated accounts of the construction of the castle, and historians of later generations have had difficulty in making such judgments. However, there is no doubt that Naoshige Nabeshima was involved in the construction of Nagoya Castle. Naoshige’s record is as follows, presumably from Tensho 19
The castle was built at Nakoya in Kaminomatsuura in the territory of Morihito Hata, the son of Morihito Hata, for the purpose of his visit to the castle by the Taikoh, and a turret of the castle was erected on the castle.
In this case, the Lord Naomochi Naomochi wrote the following letter on the second day: “I am pleased to inform you that I will be able to go to the Furuya to attend to your presence, and that I will be able to attend to your business.
Red Seal, July 11th
To Kaga no Mamoru Nabeshima
Noriyaka
According to one theory, when Nabeshima Naomochi first returned to Japan, he stopped by Shirasagiyama with the Busan potter Norigaoka and a dozen members of his family at the order of Hideyoshi, and had them bake tea utensils. Ienaga Hikosaburo studied under and loved the work of Honkyo, and many of the tea utensils made at that time were made by him.
Shirasagiyama
Shirasagiyama is not the name of Nagoya village, but of a mountain on the village’s Jinshu Island, a small island two ri from Nagoya Castle and two ri from Karatsu. (At that time, many egrets inhabited the area, but they were later cut down and moved in the direction of Himejima in Chikuzen.)
Mt. Shirasaki is located 6 or 7 km from Nagoya Castle, where Ujisato Gamo Tobimori was stationed at the time. It is said to have produced white pottery clay, the raw material for Karatsu ware, in the old days. It is said that some Koreans were taken here and others were sent to Karafusa in Sashi-mura to make pottery separately.
The Visit of Son Guei
In Keicho 3, a Joseon potter, Jung Son-gae (son of Son-bon, lord of Busan), who came to Dangjin following Kato Kiyomasa, is said to have stopped here for a while to learn Dangjin ware (it is said at Kojiro Kansha Kiln in Kirigi Village). Once he returned to his hometown, he came back to Japan in 1600 and was invited by Hosokawa Tadaoki to establish Ueno ware in Toyomae.
Hirotaka took over Karatsu.
After the fall of the Hata clan, Terasawa Chujiro Hirotaka took over Karatsu and was appointed Shima governor for the first time. He was a vassal of Hideyoshi, whose father, Fujisakomon Hiromasa from Owari, first served Oda Nobunaga and later became the governor of Ecchu under Hideyoshi. Hirotaka was a man of character and brilliance, and served for seven years before and after the Korean invasion, achieving great success. When Onikotake Castle was burnt down overnight (rumored to have been set on fire by Hata ronin), he built a castle in Tanaka Village (Tokusue, Kitahata-cho, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture), northwest of Tokui, and made it his residence.
Construction of Maizuru Castle
In Keicho 7, construction began on Mount Mitsushima in Karatsu, and after seven years, Maizuru Castle was completed. The harbor was deep in water, and Takashima, Oshima, and Torishima were visible in the basin. On land, Mount Kanefuri, the domain of Princess Sayohime, can be seen, and looking up, Ukidake can be seen in the sea of clouds high in the eastern sky. Since then, many merchants have gathered here, and even the wealthy Hakata merchant Kamiya Sotan (Sadakiyo Heishiro, 85, graduated in 1838) visited the area to trade with Korea, China, Lu Song, Seonan, and Annan, and in 1932, the city was incorporated as a city.
Remnants of Onjitake
The remnants of Onishitake at that time included many exiles and dispersers, some of whom served the Nabeshima clan, some of whom became village headmen, and many of whom became merchants and potters. The fire at Onishitake Castle was one such example, and the government condemned the actions of the ronin but did not unreasonably stop them.
The Visit of Lee Gyeong
Hirotaka also called a potter, Yi Kei (written Yugang) and a Tsushima potter, Nanabei, from Joseon and had them make tea utensils at Shi no Mine using the potter’s clay brought from Joseon.
Hidori Pottery
This pottery is prized by connoisseurs as a masterpiece of hidori-yaki pottery. As mentioned above, Yi Kei was called Sakamoto Sukuhachi, and in later years he founded Nagato no Kohagi.
When Hirotaka fired pottery, he carried the raw materials for clay and glaze from Korea, the same as for Phowa, but the wartime circumstances indicate that he carried them as a substitute for weights to maintain stability on the voyage back to Koryo, as mentioned above, but not necessarily so. The traditional belief that Joseon was the main producer of pottery during this period also contributed to the respect for unique raw materials unique to this country, such as Kochisa from Satsuma, as well as Nakano, which lacked high-quality clay.
Hirotaka Karoku
In August 5 Keicho, Hirotaka served in the Eastern Army in the Battle of Sekigahara, and for his services, he was granted an additional 40,000 koku in Amakusa Island, Hizen Province, and another 28,360 koku in Yido County, Chikuzen Province (Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture).
Relocation of Clan Kilns
Hirotaka also invited three potters, Yasaku, Fuji Komon, and Taza Komon, who had returned from Korea, to open a kiln at Karabori, a beach west of the castle, and gave them two dependents to work at the Karatsu ware kiln. In 1602, he moved to Okawahara (Minamihata, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), and in 1615, he opened a kiln in Shiinomine.
Hirotaka died on April 11, Kan’ei 10, at the age of 71. His eldest son, Shikibu Shosuke Tadaharu, died prematurely at the age of 23 on April 1, 1615, and was succeeded by his second son, Hyogo-head Kenko.
Kenko’s Encouragement of Pottery
He also encouraged potters from the Onikotake area to open their own kilns in the region, rebuilt the Karabori kiln, and fired vessels for the shogunate at the Bojo-cho domain kiln.
Old kilns in the Onikotake lineage that are thought to have been established during the Keicho era include the Awa-no-Tani, Kaya-no-Tani, and Katsuhisa kilns in Fujinokawauchi, Matsuura Village (Imari City, Saga Prefecture), Umesaka in Okawa Village (Imari City, Saga Prefecture), and the Yakiyama Kamigama and Yakiyama Shimo kilns in the same village.
Valley of Abo
Fujinokawauchi is a mountainous area with 57 houses. It is called Awa Valley.
The pottery shards are ash-glazed square dishes with poorly painted iron cats. There is also a golden brown glazed cup with sea squirt.
There is also an ash-glazed dish and a black-glazed medium dish with a wave pattern in intaglio and a reddish-brown glaze with an orchid-like plant on the bottom. There is also a dark brown warbler glazed tea bowl, a small dish with a dark brown glaze with a knotted bird design on the rim, and an ash glazed dish with a grass design on the rim and four vertical stripes. There are also candy-glazed round dishes, elegant tea bowls with light green glaze, and egg, tenmoku, and gosu glazed tea bowls, all with unglazed high bases, and not a few with crepe creases on the inside.
Abo’s Medicine
At that time, Abo, a Korean, came to Karatsu and started to use green glaze (膽礬’copper綠) in every kiln, and this green leaf came to be called Abo Yaku (阿保薬). Some people may think that this Abo was established in Kawauchi, Koto-ku, and that is why it is called Aba-no-Tani, but this green medicine is used more in the old kilns in Kinshiwara in the neighboring mountains than in this area.
Kaya Valley
The old kilns of Kayanotani, also known as Kaya Valley (一名勝負が谷), include a 3″ jar-shaped vase with a teardrop design in black amber glaze and a 6″ vase with blue ground, sea squirt glaze, and amber glaze.
There is also a tortoiseshell-glazed tea jar with a sea squirt pattern and a similar vase with a rat-colored glaze. There is also a small sake cup of ice cracker with white glaze on brown clay, and a similar one with tenmoku glaze, both itokiri.
There is also a large dish with iron painting in dark ash glaze, a water jar with a shoulder ring of sea squirts in brown glaze, a small dish with orchids on a light blue ground on a sake cup, and a tea bowl with peach color in white transparent glaze on brown ground and sharkskin in dark glaze on the outside, all unglazed on a high stand.
In addition, there are koyo-yaki with red clay body showing kiln alteration and lightweight itokiri (sake cup with a small cut-off mouth). Although the Kawauchi kiln has been regarded as an artist-type kiln, the sea squirt glaze and other types of glaze are completely Karatsu, and geographically it is only about a half-mile from Murasaki-no-Mine.
Korean Tombs in Fudegaya
There is a Korean grave in the cemetery of Fudegaya and Sanbonmatsu in Fujinokawauchi; it is a square stone monument about 1.5 cm high and 1 cm wide on a two-tiered stone slab about 3 cm by 4 cm. It is dated September 24, 1688 (Genroku 16), and the inscription “釋玄人” (釋玄人) in the center indicates that he was a Korean who returned to Japan much later.
Korean Tomb in Kuraki
There is also a 45-ken round hill at Kuragi Sakai near Fujinodani, where there were about 10 old Korean graves with round towers on pentagonal stones, but all are now gone and only one remains.
Katsuhisa
Katsuhisa is located next to Fujinokawachi in Adonokawa (松浦村數傏戶). The old kilns here are mostly tenmoku- and tortoiseshell-glazed, and the tea bowls are unglazed and high, with small gourd-shaped flower stands, flat incense stands, and other items with thread-cut bottoms. The two kilns that separated from Katsuhisa are Sotocho Kouba and Douen.
Sotocho Kofa and Doen
Most of the pottery shards were made of lead-colored clay or dark brown ground, unevenly covered with tenmoku glaze, with a half-brown ground like tortoiseshell, and crepe creases visible on the unglazed elevated platforms. Other pottery shards from Douen in the same area include a small dish with a pale blue glaze, a teacup with iron painting on a dark green glaze, and a poor grass head painted with iron painting on persimmon tenmoku. There are also unglazed high tea bowls with elegant iron painting on tenmoku glaze.
Kilns that were subsequently opened include Bionrin in Kinsekihara (Matsuura Village, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), Higashi Kiln Valley in Mochida, Nishi Kiln Valley in Mochida, Kurakitani in Yamagata (Matsuura Village, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), Kurikitani, Hara-dake-no-yama in Muta in Nakanohara (Matsuura Village, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), Kamiya in Kawahara (Okawa Village, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), Yamazaki in Motobu (Wakagi Village, Kishima County), and many more. There are too many to enumerate. However, the details and history of these kilns before and after their construction are unknown.
Bionrin
There is an old kiln named “Naka-Hirotani Kiln” in Kinsekihara, but there was no old kiln in Hirotani, and it was located in the neighboring Mionrin. Looking into the terraced fields at the foot of the mountain here, one can find some pottery shards mixed in with the shadows of young persimmon leaves. There are brownish-red small-stripe carved Tokutte, dark-glazed tea bowls, many with tortoiseshell glaze, and rare ones with flat kiln-style sea green glaze, all with unglazed high bases.
The name Kaneishiwara refers to a small area of 27 houses in Nakanohara, Matsuura-cho, Imari City, Saga Prefecture, about 1.5 kilometers from Imari. Kaneishiwara Pottery used to refer to the two kiln valleys on the east and west sides of Mochida, and there is still a climbing kiln on the east side of the mountain, about 3.6 m wide and 7.2 m long.
Higashi Kiln Valley in Mochida
The pottery shards from the old kilns in the Higashi Kiln Valley include a large tea bowl in the均 kiln style, with a light green glaze on the inside of the green glaze, a white and dark blue rim with a cleft trace, and a reddish purple bottom. There is also a large tea bowl in the same style, with a dark blue or golden brown interior and a sea spray color outer rim. There are also deep reddish-brown glazed teacups, large and small tenmoku teacups, and turtle shell glazed teacups. In addition, a large blue-brown glazed tea bowl has small ice cracks, and a white glazed tea bowl has ice cracks on the outer sea squirt.
There are also large glassy teacups with yellow seto or ying glaze. There is a white glazed tea bowl on red clay, a dark ash glazed tea bowl, and a blue medicine glazed tea bowl with black spots in the copper glaze. All are unglazed, but there are also tea bowls with azuki, dark ash, and egg glaze. However, as with the unglazed high bowls, there are no crescent-shaped carvings or creases in the crepe. Other examples include a tortoiseshell-glazed sake cup, a small flower stand with tenmoku glaze, and a small water jar with tenmoku splits on brown ground.
Mochida Nishigoya Valley
Old kilns in Nishigoya Valley include tenmoku deep tea bowls, large blue-brown glazed tea bowls, sea squirt and brown-brown glazed powdered tea bowls, red-brown glazed tea bowls, and red-brown glazed tea bowls. Sake cups also vary, including yuzu-ji tenmoku, black tenmoku, kinko kaiyodo, yellow seto, and light yellow, some with blue glaze on the mouth. There are also burnt brown glazed water jars, burnt brown glazed tea pots, and small flower stands with light brown glaze on lead-colored clay. One particular example is a 3-centimeter-high plastic figure of a dharma figure with blue robe and foliage.
Muda no Hara
Nakanohara is a mountain village with 120 households. The ruins of an old kiln in Muta-no-hara are located 1.6 km from Kinsekihara, behind Kumano Gongen Shrine. On the left side of the bank are the kiln sites of Gakunoyama, and on the right side are the kiln sites of Mutahara under Sanbonmatsu. Tea bowls in yellow or lead-colored clay with powdered black-gold brown glaze, black tenmoku glaze, tortoiseshell glaze, etc. are lined up in a row. All are unglazed high bowls, and some are shaped with hips.
Gakunoyama
Gakunoyama is located across the street from Muta Kiln, and although the old kiln vessels are similar to those from Muta Kiln, they are generally more appetizing, including a jar about 24 cm in diameter with line engraving on a brown ground, a vase about 15 cm in diameter with a black tenmoku body, and a vase of the same shape with brown glaze and iron glaze flecks. There is also a vase with a body diameter of about 9 cm with black tenmoku and nadir, and a small square dish with candy-colored glaze and a bud in the corner.
There are 140 kilns in Yamagata, Matsuura Village, and two old kiln sites along the mountain: Kuratsubo in Teradani and Kurikidani. There are two old kiln sites in Teradani, Kuratsubo and Kurikidani, and it was said that there were also kiln sites in Go-Yada, but they are located two valleys away from Kurikidani and no trace of them can be seen today.
Saddle Pot
The pottery shards of the saddle jar include a tokuri, a fire bowl, and sherds with homemade yingko or reddish brown glaze that appear to have been fired from a jar or pot. There are also tenmoku tea bowls, all of which were fired in an unglazed high stand.
Kurinokitani
In the old kilns of Kurinokitani, there are deep tea bowls made of brown clay with a thin layer of white glaze to bring out the color of the clay. There are also large dishes made of lead-colored clay on a brown base. There are also tea bowls covered with surprise or yellow-seto glaze and white glaze on the same ground, all glazed from the inside to the outer rim, a very primitive style that contrasts with the solidity of the semi-porcelain-like clay.
Yamazaki
The Yamazaki kiln site is located in Ogawauchi, Wakagi, Takeo City, Saga Prefecture, a small community of 145 households, next to Matsuura, Imari City, Saga Prefecture. It is said that the kiln site was located on a small hill to the east of the village, but it has now been cut into fields, and it is not easy to find fragments of the kiln site. There is only a natural stone about 30 cm high that is said to be a Koryojinzuka (mound of Koryo people).
The raw material is the clay of the region, which is rich in viscosity. Pottery shards include large jars with wide open mouths, and small groove-rimmed dishes with blue-brown or gray glazes on the rim. There is also a small dish with a wide rim and a mukozuke with two leaves on all four sides and an orchid flower on the bottom, all with unglazed high bases.
Old potteries
In the adjacent Nagao area, there is an old jar shop where jars used to be fired, but now the land has been cleared and there is no trace of it.
Peach River Jar Mountains
Although not in the Karatsu lineage, there is Momo-no-kawa Jikayama in Matsuura Village. It is 2 ri 8 km from Imari and has a village of 250 households.
Kiyoaki Nakano
Matsuura, Imari City, Saga Prefecture, was formerly ruled by the Hata clan and later belonged to the Nabeshima clan. Kiyoaki Nakano, who came to Momonogawa from Saga, followed Naomochi to the Korean invasion, and after returning to Japan, he brought Korean potters to start a pottery business in the area.
This area is said to be the best jar production area in Hizen, and the price is 10-20% higher than in Tadara and Ueno. Along with the jars, dishes measuring 20 to 30 cm in diameter were once produced. They were made of brown or dark brown clay, coated with an amber glaze, and had a white rim with a wavy brush pattern. There are also 21-centimeter-square asai plates with white brushwork patterns over azuki glaze, but most are unglazed high-bottomed and serpentine stacked (layered ware).
Tombstone of Qingming
There is a tombstone for Seimei, who retired and died here in his later years. The headstone is 5.5 cm high, 4.4 cm wide, and 4 cm thick. In the center is a flat stone in the shape of a bird’s cap, with the inscription “Shoshin Inmitsu Zensetsu Jikumon” below Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo (Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo).
(The grave of Komon Yokota, who was killed in the line of duty, is in the Ogi Cemetery.)
Momo-no-kawa-yaki (burning of peaches in the river)
Today, the clay from Sangenzaka (Nakadori-machi, Takeo City, Saga Prefecture), Maneno (Takeuchi-machi, Takeo City, Saga Prefecture), Toshiishikawa (Okawa-machi, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), and Yamaguchi (Okawa-machi, Imari City, Saga Prefecture) is used to produce giant goishi pots, clay pipes, flowerpots, tiles and other products. Ito Inoju has been in business for four generations. At one time it supplied large quantities of jars to the Kagoshima area as containers for Awamori, and its annual production was over 10,000 yen, but it is estimated that only about half of this amount is produced today.
Kenko Commits Suicide
On November 9, 1637, a rebellion of Yasu Kirishitan (Jesus Christians) broke out in Shimabara, Hizen Province, the territory of Shigemasa Itakura, and farmers in Amakusa, Terasawa Kenko’s territory, joined the uprising. Out of regret, he committed suicide at the age of 39 on November 18, 1647 at Kaikaiji Temple in Asakusa, Edo (now Tokyo).
Hisamori Katsutaka succeeded to power.
On November 24, 1647, by order of the shogunate, Nakagawa Shuzenmasa Hisamori, lord of the castle in Toyooka, and Isemori Mizutani Katsutaka, lord of the castle in Matsuyama, came to Karatsu and took over the Maizuru Castle. The group that came to Karatsu took possession of Maizuru Castle and henceforth held political office as the castle’s guardians. Thus, the kilns in Bozu-cho were temporarily placed under the direct control of the shogunate.
Okubo Tadatada succeeded him.
In 1649, Tadatsune Okubo (son of Tadatsune Kagamori) was transferred from Banshu-Akashi and given 87,000 koku to become the lord of the Karatsu domain. Okubo Tadatama was a grandson of Ieyasu, and as such, he was appointed to the post of governor of Chinzei, where he was able to make political achievements. When Tadatama was appointed, Nakagawa Hisamori and Mizutani Takashi returned to their own provinces, but only Umemura Rihei, who had followed Katsutaka, remained behind.
Rihei Umemura
Umemura Rihei had a deep taste for the tea ceremony and a keen appreciation of art, especially painting.
He once made dolls and painted fan paintings in Roku, Chikuzen Province (Fukuyoshi Village, Itoshima County), but returned to Saga, inspected the kilns in Arita and Mikawachi, and returned to Karatsu, where he advised the feudal lord Tadatada to use his kiln in the Boshu-cho domain to produce pottery to be presented to the shogunate.
Hirayama Kamigama Kiln
He moved to Aichi-cho, Takeo City, Saga Prefecture, and built the Hirayamagami Kiln at Hazenotani Nishi, Hirayamagami, inviting craftsmen from Mikawachi, but stopped after five years. In his later years, he ran a teahouse in Watada (Onizuka Village on the outskirts of Karatsu City).
On April 19, 1669, Tadatsune Okubo died, and was succeeded by Tadasa Dewa, the second son of Tadatsune’s uncle, Ukyo Ryo Kazutaka, who was transferred to Sakura in Shimofusa Province.
Norihisa Matsudaira succeeded him.
In July 1678, Matsudaira Izumi-no-Mori Norihisa, lord of Matsukura in Shimousa, succeeded as lord of the Karatsu domain.
Acting Doi Profit
On May 29, 1691, Doi Toshiharu replaced Doi Suomori Toshimasu as lord of the castle in Toba, Yamashiro Province, and was succeeded by the second Ootashiro Toshimi on April 27, 1714, the third Ootashiro Toshinobu (actually the son of Bingo no Toshikiyo) on April 18, 1738, and the fourth Ootashiro Toshizato (actually Toshinobu’s brother) on April 18, 1738. Because the tea bowl kiln was too close to the coast, it was moved to the present kiln in Aza-tani-cho, Karajinmachi, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture.
In September 1762, Riri returned to his former domain, Furukawa.
Mizuno Tadatomo succeeded him.
In 1763, Tadatomo Mizuno took over Karatsu from Tadatomo Doi, the adopted son of Tadatatsu Mizuno and younger brother of Tadamiya Mizuno, the lord of the castle in Okazaki, Mikawa Prefecture. However, a series of natural disasters resulted in poor harvests, and Tadatoshi’s indiscriminate reimposition of prohibition caused great suffering among the people.
The peasants in the territory rose up and gathered at Niji-no-Matsubara in 1771.
Chigetsu and Saiji
The victims were Chigetsu, abbot of Jorakuji Temple in Kagami Village, and Saiji Tomita, a village headman in Hirahara, Tamashima Village, among others. The second Shikibu Shosuke Tadadasuke moved to Hamamatsu in Omi Province, and was succeeded by Izumimori Tadamitsu III and Etchu Tadakuni IV, but in June 1818, the 17,000-koku domain was transferred directly to the shogunate.
Nagamasa Ogasawara took over.
In 1818, the estate became the domain of Nagamasa Ogasawara no Chuden-atama, and he received 60,000 koku. The Ogasawara clan was descended from the fourth generation of the Seiwa Minamoto clan, Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu’s son, Kayokanja Tomitsu.
white crested clouds and cranes
Ichibiki Tadatomo ruled Kitsuki and Yoshida in Bungo Province, and was given 60,000 koku of Kakegawa in Enshu Province from his son Naganori’s generation to Nagayasu’s generation, and 60,000 koku of Tanagura in Oshu Province from Nagayasu’s generation. Chosho had experience in overseeing the production of ceramics and porcelain in his domain, and was able to produce tea bowls with a white cloud and crane design inlaid on the surface of the bowl, modeled after Koryo, and present them to the shogunate (white cloud and crane design means that the bowl is engraved with a cloud and crane design and inlaid with white gold, but in later generations, many of them were inlaid with flowers and even the type of inlay was in this style. (See Figure 1.). In later generations, many inlays were inlaid with flowers, and all inlays, even those in this style, were called “white cloud cranes”).
Nagayasu II was a lord of Tsuruoka Castle in Hashu, Sakai; Nagae III was a lord of Senzoku in Buzen; Nagawa IV was a lord of Yamatokoriyama; and Nagakuni V was also an adopted son. From the Tenmei era, October of each year was designated as the month for the presentation of pottery to the Shogunate. Nagayuki VI (actually the son of Nagamasa I and his father, Nagamitsu Ki) was also adopted and was two years older than Nagayuki V.
Ogasawara Meizan
Ogasawara Meizan (a.k.a. Kunika, Hakke, Tenzen Ryu-mimi) was a young official in Nagayuki’s side who was in charge of paying compensation for the barley incident.
The two families that ran the Karatsu domain’s official kilns for generations were Nakazato Tarouemon and Oshima Yahei.
Nakazato’s name is marked with a ? Oshima’s name was marked with an M. Both families were excellent master craftsmen.
Both families produced outstanding master craftsmen. Both families produced outstanding master craftsmen.
Matashichi Nakazato
Matashichi I is said to be the son of a former Korean, Yasaku, but in fact he was a descendant of Onjotake, and he was unafraid to reveal his true identity. In fact, Matashichi is said to have been the son of Yasaku, an old Korean, but in fact he was an Onjotake-bureaucrat, and was unafraid to reveal his true identity.
Kiln God, Kan’emon
Matashichi worked in the kilns of the Tashiro clan. Kan’emon III worked at the Shiinomine kiln from 1615 to 1624, but returned to Ogawara for reasons of his own, and was so skilled that he regretted the departure of the kiln god to Shiinomine.
He came to Shiinomine again as Tarouemon IV, and in 1727, after the collapse of Shiinomine, Tarouemon V was ordered to transfer to a domain kiln in Boshimachi with Ya Oshima IV.
Tojiemon Maeda
A pupil of Rihei Umemura was a painter named Tojiemon Maeda. He is the son of Kiheiji and Hirabo.
Kiheiji and Hirabo
Kiheiji VI studied under Kiheiji and his works from Kiheiji’s time are known as Chuko ware. Kiheiji VI’s works are known as Chuko ware, while Tarouemon XII continues to produce as a private business on the site of his tea bowl kiln.
Uzura-te Hakeme
A member of the Arita Yaki Newcomer’s Association, he has produced many elegant works.
One example is a style called “Tehakeme,” a ground bowl with an iron glaze over a blue ground with small ice cracks and a Mishimategate-like brush pattern, with a chrysanthemum-shaped brush pattern on the bottom. On the left is the Oshima family, which, along with the Nakazato family, wielded the skills of the domain’s potter for generations.
Among them, the sixth generation, Ya Daihei, was a peerless potter. Gennosuke, the eighth generation, is said to have been active during the same period as the Ogasawara Sadomori period, but details are unknown. The Oshima family went out of business earlier than the Nakazato family, and it is very difficult to study the Oshima family after they moved to the coal mining area of Hirado at the end of Imazen et al.
The Decline of Karatsu Ware
Karatsu ware, which had handed down its long history and special techniques, subsequently declined without a trace. For this reason, there was no one in Karatsu, including the old feudal lords, who argued for its revival, and even though the government cried out loudly for its revival, no one invested in it.
Kusabamisetsu
In 1890, Kusabamisetsu, an obstetrician and gynecologist in the town of Karatsu, invested a huge amount of money to set up a facility in Tanimachi and devoted himself to the revival of Karatsu ware by teaching his own designs and trying to paint clouds and cranes on white porcelain, and at one time exhibited his work at exhibitions around the country, making it known to the world.
Sueki Yamauchi
Sueki, the third son of Mibushi and adopted son of Kohei Yamauchi, followed in his father’s footsteps by hiring Yoshinori Hamada (also spelled Mioku, a first graduate of the Arita Technical School) of Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, to create various glazes and bases, and invited Arita craftsmen such as Shin Matsushima for engraving and Yoshinori Kado (a third-year student at the school) for painting. He also hired other Arita-yaki craftsmen to make tokonomi (floor mats), flower vases, tea sets, and tableware.
At times he exhibited his works at expositions, at other times at trade fairs, and in 1964, Baron Torao Yoneda presented one of his works to the Ministry of the Imperial Household. In this way, he was able to revitalize the business, but unfortunately, after his graduation on November 14, 1969, at the young age of 37, he was forced to discontinue this business as well.
Justiciable Nakano
The next to emerge was Nakano Justirin, a colossal statue artist. In his later years, when Kotaro Maeda borrowed money from Kusaba Mibetsu, he took as collateral a secret account book concerning the preparation of clay and glaze. He built a kiln at the back of Tanimachi and shared it with Naoyuki Fukuda, who was training in Kyoto at the time, and returned to his hometown to engage in pottery making.
His specialty was not only colossal statues, but also horses and crabs. His store in Honmachi displays a 45-centimeter-tall horse and a group of crabs climbing up a large basket. His skill, however, was in making giant sculptures, due to the aforementioned clay-making secrets and his technique, which allowed him to perfectly create pieces as tall as 1 meter, as well as many realistic giant statues and famous horses obtained from photographs.
Raw Materials for Karatsu Ware
Now, returning to the original article, the clay used for Karatsuyaki was all iron-rich. There are many types of clay that were often used, such as Mugata clay from Ariura Village (blue/small rice white), Kabeshima clay from Nagoya Village (white), Hieda clay from Tokusue in Kitahata Village (red), Nomura Yamakuhi clay (white), Sari clay from Mutabe in Aichi Village (white), rock gravel from Nishikarazu Village (small rice white), and doll clay from Kanda Nishinoura (red), to name just a few.
Soil of Kasashii
In 1616, good quality soil with low iron content was found in Kasashii (Minamihata Village, Imari City, Saga Prefecture), and pottery production in the neighboring Shiinomine area flourished, and two new kilns (Tatara Middle and Tatara Lower) were built in addition to the existing Tatara Upper Kiln, each with a continuous length of 18 meters. The distance from here to Kasashii was about 1.9 km, which was very convenient for transporting clay. Clay was also transported to the domain kilns in Karatsu, but it was forbidden to take clay out indiscriminately.
Shiinomine Mountain
Shiinomine is a village in present-day Minamihata Village. Minami Hata Village was incorporated into Nishi-Matsuura County in November 1878, along with three other villages, Hatatsu, Kurokawa, and Okawa, which were under the domain of the Karatsu domain. Shiinomine was once called Koshii, and was the residence of Shiinomine Garaku, a vassal of the Hatata domain. It was 3.9 km from the Imari market, convenient for the transportation of goods, and at its peak, there were over 350 houses in the area, making Karatsu pottery a representative industry.
Karatsu’s ceramic industry is the second oldest after Onikotake, and developed especially after the arrival of many potters from the Onikotake collapse, including Nakazato, Oshima, Ogata, Fukushima, and Fukumoto.
Protection of the Karatsu Domain Lord
After the Terasawa domain was restored to the domain, the domain gave preferential treatment to the potters, and in particular, each of the domain’s five potters was given one man’s allowance, and each was required to borrow 30 bales of rice every year and pay for it with pottery. In addition, they were given 50 hectares of forest near Shiinomine to use as fuel for their pottery production.
Takahara Goroshichi’s Service
Goroshichi Takahara, who served Hideyoshi as an official potter at Juraku-dai, was so skilled that he invented a wooden gun during the Battle of Osaka. (Some say that he opened a kiln in Oonaridani, Kurade County.)
Needless to say, he was very cautious and kept his actions secret only in the lap of the Toyotomi family.
Goroshichi Comes to Shiinomine
In 1619, Goroshichi came to Shiinomine, where he stayed for seven years, studying Joseon techniques and teaching potters. (Goroshichi was also a master potter and is said to be the origin of the Gorohachi bowl.)
Sanno wrestler’s study
Imamura Sanno wrestler of Mikawachi came all the way to Shiinomine to study pottery under Goroshichi to learn the excellent techniques of the area. He must have been eager to visit Shiinomine because of his connection with Chohazan, which was established by a potter from Onikotakekurage.
Gathering at Shiinomine in Nami-do
In this mountainous area from Keicho to Genna, many people who feared the world, including those who were defeated in the Battle of Kagahara and homeless after the fall of Osaka, became potters with the help of Goroshichi, and many others sought refuge with the ronin who joined Goroshichi after the collapse of Onikotake. The combination of simple local color and elegant elegance is a kind of creation of the utmost sophistication.
Stopping at Doi Profit Shiinomine
During the Genroku era (1688-1704), Doi Itoshi, a feudal lord of the Karatsu domain, stopped by Shiinomine on his way to Nagasaki to inspect the work of five families, including the domain’s potters Tarouikomon, Yajibei Kaheiji, Sakuhei, and Tazaikomon. However, only Taizakomon did not have a family name, so he was given the surname Fukumoto. Tarouemon and Yahei could have been Nakazato and Oshima, but Kaheiji and Sakubei were apparently Ogata or Fukushima.
After 80 years of prosperity under the lord’s protection and through the diligent study of potters and other artisans, the Shiinomine collapse occurred.
Shiinomine Collapse
The area suffered a major fire in July 1663, the third year of the Kanbun Era, but it was a more serious incident that fundamentally destroyed the industry.
There are two theories about the Shiinomine collapse. The Komatsu genealogy places it in the Kan’ei period, but it is not certain at what time it occurred.
The first was in the 10th year of Genroku.
In 1697, many of the local potteries (also called “kiromoto”) had already received loans from Imari merchants to finance their production, but a number of them did not settle their loans by the due date and, ignoring the loans, entered into new transactions with other merchants or secretly sold most of their kiln products to other places, which greatly angered the This greatly angered the merchants. The outraged merchants, in collusion with the village headman of Iteno in the same village, complained about this to the Okawano deputy magistrate.
The magistrate immediately investigated the matter and, if the merchants were not at fault, strict orders were given to reimburse most of them. Only 45 kilns remained, and the thriving pottery industry in the area suddenly disappeared.
Various subsequent theories
The first pottery production took place in 1717, in the 2nd year of the Kyoho Era (1717). Originally, the most difficult part of the pottery technique for potters was the preparation of glaze, regardless of the difference in clay. Therefore, it is said that there was a secret recipe for mixing glaze common to every mountain, and that there was a great deal of effort to find the raw materials.
Picking up mountain priests
Until around the time of the Meiji Restoration, when the mountain priests learned that the stones from Shorikibo in Okawachiyama (Saga Prefecture) would flow into the Iwaguri River in Imari, they would secretly cross the Ike Pass in the middle of the night to pick up the stones. The two were wary of each other and did not mention Shorikibo’s name, but used the anonymous name of “Yamabushi” (mountain priest).
This was because they feared that if this came to light, they would be forced to discuss the matter with the other party, who was in Nabeshima territory, making it difficult to imagine a tough discussion. Therefore, they sometimes went so that they could pick them up and put them in fish baskets in the nighttime swinging wind. After the Meiji Restoration, however, they were released, and the white fee of Enohara in Okawachi Village and the red fee of Koishiwara in the same village were held out in the open.
Transmission of the Shiinomine Secret Law
However, during the era of the clan system, the secret transmission of this glaze method was ordered by Touzan. Incidents occurred near Saga and Takeo, where people who received some kind of bribe from potters in the area tipped off officials that they had passed on the secret glaze of the Shiinomine tradition. The local officials at that time strictly investigated those who were suspected.
Firing kilns and other facilities were banished.
Surprisingly, it was discovered that there were many people involved, and not only the kilns where the firing took place, but also the workers and those who did miscellaneous work, were all expelled.
The riot reportedly led to the fifth generation Nakazato Tarouemon and the fourth generation Oshima Yahei being sent to a domain kiln in the town of Boshu, which was the knee of the lord.
Excluding personal notes
The following is a record of when Tarouemon and Yahei took out the personal records of the Shiinomine Kiln in May 1776. At that time, the Shiinomine Kiln was scattered to other mountains or closed down, and only two houses remained, those of Yaemon (Nakazato) and Ichibei (Ogata?).
The politics of the clan system dared not look at the gains and losses of industry, but decided things based solely on morality and right and wrong. This is in stark contrast to the modern world, where countries around the world are more concerned with calculating diplomacy than trade.
Valley of the Buddhas
There are four old kilns on Shi Shi’s peak: Butsu-no-Tani in Kamitadara, Nakamura in Nakadahara, Komotani in Shimotadahara, and the Koshii New Kiln. Butsunodani is the deepest in the mountains, flanked on both sides by valleys and sloping down to the kiln with curiously shaped hills. The old kilns in this area are all old Karatsu ware with a thin glaze with a thread-cut bottom and a solid geological structure similar to stoneware. Some white-glazed tea bowls have unglazed high bases, but they are closer to semi-porcelain.
The most common types are brownish in color and include plates, bowls, and tea bowls. There are also bowls with gray and pale yellow glazes decorated with green leaf patterns. In other words, this Butsu-no-Tani kiln seems to be the second oldest kiln after Iidong. The fact that the firing of the Kamikogama kilns is generally harder than that of the secondhand kilns may be due to the thicker forests of the time, or it may be the result of a somewhat relaxed trend toward emphasizing the profitability of fuel in the age of the old kilns.
Nakamura
The Nakamura and Komotani kilns were opened in 1616, the 2nd year of the Genna Era, as mentioned above. Nakamura’s old kilns include round tea bowls with white glaze and designs on chestnut-colored grounds, tea bowls with bluish ash glaze and small rims, and summer tea bowls with dark yellow glaze and snake-eye designs on the bottom. Some are of sturdy stoneware quality.
There are also summer tea bowls with tenmoku or chestnut brown glaze, and tea bowls with a warped rim and yellow glaze with a sea-squirrel glaze.
There are also a variety of gems, such as egg-colored glazed greenish-blue medicinal tea bowls, chestnut-red glazed small three-sided plates with cherry blossom design, and small bowls with white glazed chestnut-ground edges.
Komodani
At the Komoya Kogama site, which is the entrance to Koryojin, there are many egg-colored glazed tea bowls, but there are also rare black tenmoku tea bowls, snake-eyed summer tea bowls with the same glaze, and ash-glazed round tea bowls. Later porcelain was also fired here. What is now used as the Shiinomine Kiln is a new kiln in the old Shi, and if the kiln was opened before 100 years ago, it goes without saying that it has been reconstructed since then.
Old pottery shards from the Shi no Mine kiln
There are not a few excellent old kilns in Shi no Mine. Among them, there is an oval-shaped vase with a large mouth and an oil-drop vase with a teardrop design, although it is unclear which kiln it belonged to.
There is also a 4″ large tea bowl with oval glaze painted with blue medicine, a 3″ small dish painted with plum blossoms in the same glaze, and a small dish with brown glaze and inlaid red rim. There is also a brown-glazed drum-shaped rimmed gutter bowl and a brown-glazed gutter bowl with Edo karatsu design. There is a medium greenish chestnut-glazed body with a white design in a dark yellow glaze, and an itokiri-shaped six-sided cup with a dark brown glazed rim covered with tenmoku glaze and a crepe glaze on the body. There is also a 7″ high sake cup with a black glaze over a white chestnut ground and a white glaze on the rim with raku stripes. There is also an eight-sun vase with a chicken droppings glaze and a six-sun ring hanadachi with a blue sea-rat glaze and a side tenmoku glaze.
Shiinomine Porcelain
In 1896, Ueda Yonezo (Hara-ya) of downtown Imari took over the kiln equipment of Tsuji Maekawa-yaki in Koshi and brought it to Shiinomine, where he began firing porcelain using amakusa stone as the raw material. Kokichi Mizumachi of Genkai Kiln in Imari took charge of the kiln, gathered 56 local potters including Kiichi Ogata, and hired 156 people from Yoshidayama, Fujitsu County to produce copper plates and translucent tableware, but the kiln was closed after 5 or 6 years.
Around 1970, a certain Nakazato revived the production of porcelain again, making canton teacups and teacups, but after only one year, the business was closed again and returned to the production of traditional black pottery (ceramics).
Dealings with Imari
The pottery here was privately owned by Ishimaru Zensaku of Imarihama-cho from around 1873/4 (1873/7). During that period, there were a few excellent products, such as the “sea squirt” style with marbled spots on vases, but the prices and styles of the pottery gradually declined.
After Zensaku, Higashijima Sadakichi of the same town took over the kiln alone, but at that time, Shiinomine products were becoming scarce, and four people, including Nakazato Shojiro, fired the kiln, with an annual production of about 3,000 yen. Later, in shipping this inferior product, it became inconvenient to ship from Imari Port to the Osaka area as before, and local potters and direct sales of products became the mainstream, and Sadakichi stopped doing business at all 10 years ago.
Shiinomine Kiln Sea Squirt and Tenmoku
There is an old tradition in the Shiinomine kiln technique that should still be seen today. Using these sea squirt and tenmoku glazes to make large vessels such as bottle-hanging and half-dong jar kilns would have prevented imports from the Shanghai area at that time. However, this proposal was not carried out for fear that the traditional glazing method would not be passed on to artisans in other mountains.
Shiinomine, once a thriving community of 350 households, now has only 13 households and has been incorporated into Oaza Fushaku, Minamihata-cho, Imari City, Saga Prefecture.
Shiinomine’s Current Products
Current products include bathtubs, flowerpots, alcoves, and vases.
However, there is still room for improvement in the techniques used to make floor decorations and vases.
There is a Korean grave at the foot of the hill in this cemetery. It is 4.5 meters high with fine inscriptions on all sides.
Tatara no Kami at Shi no Mine
Also, from the top of Komotani Kiln, go left, turn right, and then left, there is a worship hall with an eave height of about 8 tatami mats, where the deity of Tatara, Koryojin, is enshrined. The oldest of the three stone shrines at the back of the hall was erected in August 1793 by Yaemon Nakazato, Ichikomon Oshima, Nakazato Noteji, Seiji Ogata, Rizaemon Ogata, San’ikomon Fukushima, and Unosuke Ogata.
Shinto Festival and Cherry Blossom Viewing
The festival is held on April 8 and used to be very lively with theatrical performances and kakuryoku (sumo wrestling), etc. A hanami party was held on April 9, and it was customary to indulge in drinking for five or six days, but now only the stone torii gate of Tatara no Kami stands quietly.
Korai mochi (rice cakes)
Korai-mochi are rice cakes offered to the gods at the Korai Festival. The azuki beans are boiled separately, mashed, coated with a small amount of salt, and cut into scaly corners with a bamboo knife instead of cutting with an iron knife. This is said to be the original Koryo rice cake, and is probably the origin of today’s thick Koryo rice cakes.
Back to the original story. The aforementioned collapse of Shiinomine triggered the opening of kilns in Tanaka in Kitahata Village and Hatajima in Onizuka Village. Others opened kilns in Katakusa, Sajiro, and Zentoku in Okawa Village. Others opened kilns in faraway places such as Sugibayashi in Mikawachi and Yoshii in Chikuzen Itoshima County.
Ruins of the Hatajima Kiln
The remains of an old kiln can be found in a wooded area called Kiln Valley, which is entered from the right side of a water mill at the foot of a mountain about 1 ri west of Onizuka Station. Digging through the rotting fallen leaves, one rarely finds among the kiln tools small pieces of ice cracks with white glaze or tea bowls with blue-gray glaze and uneven white glaze on rat-colored clay, all of which are small, unglazed, and have high rimmed sides.
Okawano Yuu
Okawano Yu, a member of the old Matsuura party, held 1,580 koku at Hijai Castle in Kawanishi, Okawa-cho, Imari City, Saga Prefecture, while his younger brother Mine Goro (founder of the Hirado Matsuura clan and the Imari clan) lived at Mine no Tachi, Kawanishi, Okawa-cho, Imari City, Saga Prefecture.
Hata’s descendants, whose family names were Tsuruta, Tashiro, and Kawahara, lived in this area, and under the banner of the Hata clan were Minami Genzaburo Yasumichi (Okawano Minami no Tachi, 400 koku), Hara Zenshiro Gensa (Okawano, 300 koku), Mine Tango no Tachi (Kawanishi Mine no Tachi, 300 koku), Mine Goro Hachimichi (Shimogo, 150 koku), Tashiro Hyuga no Hayashi (Kamei no Yakata, 300 koku), Akagi Jibetayu彥秀 (Kawahara, 300 koku), Tsuruta Kamejumaru ( Among them, Tsuruta Inaba Morikatsu (500 koku), lord of Hizai Castle, and his younger brother Kawahara Masataka (200 koku), lord of Kawahara-eup, were the most valiant.
Return of allotted land
When Karatsu feudal lord Mizuno Echizen-no-Mori Tadahuni had the entire territory surveyed, he found that there was a surplus of 18,000 koku in stipend and decided to return the fertile Okawano area to the shogunate. It was then transferred to the temporary control of Shimabara in Hizen, Tsushima, Satsuma, and Hita in Bungo. The reason for this was to supplement food allowances in case the aforementioned territories suffered from unusually poor harvests. It is for this reason that all the kilns in this area were located at the foot of Bizan (Mt. Bizan) on the border between Imari and Takeo cities.
The Main Valley of Tachikawa
Tachikawa in Okawa Village is a hamlet of about 80 houses located between Jono and Tachikawa in the mountains, about 2 towns away from the Okawa inn. It was once the residence of Fuchida Yushiro Hidesato (300 koku), a vassal of the Hata clan, and there are fragments of kiln sites in a place called Nishi-Hontani, about 10 towns up the road. There are tea bowls decorated with various patterns in black or light black ink on blue or gray glaze, and tea bowls with white wavy brushwork on yokan or chestnut color. There are also sea green glazed bowls with small leopard spots, ash glazed bowls with brushwork patterns, and homemade tea bowls with yingko glaze like kataguchi.
Tomb of the Mori Family
Tachikawa is a famous battlefield, and the tomb of Ryuzoji Harimamori Morie (formerly Inuzuka Chinke) and his son Saburo Shiro Gamaya, who were killed in battle attacking Tsuruta Katsu at Hizai Castle on November 203, Tensho 13. The tomb is a natural stone approximately 2.5 meters high, 23 meters wide, and 1.5 meters deep, with a nine-ring inscription on the upper front and three wooden swords made of rough oak in front of the monument.
Remains of Taira no Suemori
According to the genealogy, he came to Matsuura Yamagata in the middle of Tensho period (according to the genealogy, his descendant Komatsu Shigezo came to Kawahara to make pottery in Keicho period, came to Shiinomine to make pottery in Genwa period, and moved to Tachikawa again to make pottery in Kyoho period. During the Keicho era, he moved to Kawahara to make pottery. The following is the genealogy of the Tashiro family.
Tashiro no Tsutsue
The Tashiro kiln, once a domain kiln, was made at Tsutae in present-day Tsutae, Higashitashiro, Okawa-cho, Imari City, Saga Prefecture (78 chou before Tashiro, 30 houses half a mile from Okawano) and was the domain of Tashiro Otaki Sukebo, a former vassal of the Hata clan (a member of the Tsuruta clan living on a 500 koku Tsutae shield). The kiln site is at the foot of a mountain facing the river, with rice paddies below. It is currently under water from the Ideguchi River Dam.
Tsutae pottery shards are made of red clay covered with a thin ash glaze and black glaze over it, or the same clay covered with ash glaze and fired in piles of eight. There are also unglazed or unglazed kousawa-less pots and candy-glazed ones on a birch-colored ground. There are also water bowls with a raised rope pattern on a red ground iron color. There are also tea bowls and plates, but most are large and relatively small in height.
Zentoku
The neighboring village of Kawahara has 400,000 households and prospered as the euphony of Kawarano-Yoshitaka. The Zentoku kiln in Nagano has a well with about ten houses, and an old kiln is located at the mouth of Itaya, up the side of this bank. This ash-glazed round tea bowl has streaks on the rim and top and several lines in the same glaze.
Katakusa and Sajiro
The next two old kilns, Umesaka (another name for a stone kiln on the Doto River) and Katakusa, are also located in the village of Nagano. Katakusa is a village in Nagano where black clay pottery was made until about 20 years ago, and later porcelain was also produced. The Sajiro Kiln site is also located here and has a tea jar made of leaf tea, one of the most skillfully fired stoneware, which is a practical gem with a three-sided knot circle painted on an iron-colored ground at a height of three inches.
Kamiya
The Kamiya kiln (a village of 12.3 Kawahara houses, not a bottle house) has been reclaimed by rice paddies, but there are homemade four-sided plates with various patterns, including Karatsu patterns on candy glaze, white on red, and bamboo patterns in light ink on unglazed red ground. There is also a large dish with ashi leaves and a deep bowl with bamboo painted in light sumi ink on the bottom in ash glaze.
Ichiwaka’s Tomb of Arandas
Entering the woods at the foot of the mountain called Ichiwaka, adjacent to this kiln site, you will find an old buried stone monument under a wooden girder, which is Aranda’s tomb.
Four hundred years ago, two Dutchmen came to this village and made a kind of pottery. It is said to be of the Luzong lineage, and is quite different in kind from traditional Karatsu ware. It is not known whether these Dutchmen originally came to Karatsu, landed in Hirado, or came from Nagasaki.
Upper Kiln at Yakiyama
Next, we passed along the riverbank to find the Yakiyama kiln (there are 14.5 kilns in the area). There are six-way deep bowls with candy glaze and butt bottoms, ash-glazed bowls, and burnt brown glazed bowls. There was also an unglazed eight-sided dish with a brown clay rim and fragments of a jar of the same type. In the center of the area, a stone-roofed shrine dedicated to the god of kilns stands alone in the bushes.
These are the ruins of old kilns in Okawa Village.
Hyouishi (stone with a gourd-shaped roof)
In recent years, many candy-glazed and ash-glazed earthenware flower vases, plates, and bowls have been mined at Gyoseki in 56 town across from Tajima Shrine on Kabeshima Island in Yobuko, and since this area produces firm clay, pottery production may be attempted here in the future. (It is said that Karatsu’s Arazuna pottery was made here).
Kami no Ura
Kami no Ura Kiln is also called Yamashita Kiln in Ochi Village. Tea bowls with black-brown glaze over red clay and white brush over the glaze are found in the old kiln. There is also a large tea bowl with black chestnut glaze with white wavy brushwork, both of which are glazed on the inside of the elevation.
Nakayama
The Nakayama kiln in Itagi is located in front of the Itagi Branch School in Umenokidani, a village of 34 houses in Hatatsu Village (formerly Hatatsu Village, now Nishimatsuura County). The old kiln includes tea bowls with thick Shino style white glaze on light brown ground, tea bowls with thick white glaze on shark skin, and similarly, tea bowls with white brush pattern on light chestnut glaze. There are also tea bowls with white wavy or white brushwork over brownish-purple or chestnut-colored glaze.
There are also tea bowls with chestnut-colored glaze on black clay, tea bowls with rust-colored glaze on the inside of the high bowl, and flat dishes with light green glaze on the inside of the high bowl. There are also flat dishes with light green glaze, such as an ame-glazed wide-mouth water jar, which again is completely stoneware. Other light purple glazed pieces are semi-porcelain, and are of course later pieces. This area was the domain of Kuga Gemban Makoto Akitoshi (800 koku), an important vassal of the old Hata clan.
Moroura
The kilns in Moroura (118 houses) in Ariura Village were opened very late, as evidenced by the fact that all the vessels from the old kilns in this area are porcelain. It is 12 km west of Karatsu and was once the domain of Hidaka Yamatomori Zaishige (1,000 koku). All of them are light gray in color and are crude miscellaneous vessels, such as a grass-rimmed bowl dyed with gosu, a round pot with a plum-rimmed bowl, and a small three-sided dish with a bellows bottom.
The pieces from the old kiln in Hatada, Okawa Village, are also semi-porcelain, as are the pieces from Moroura. Although still in the process of development, the first products were truly poor, resembling a ladle with legs. During this period, even the clan’s tea bowl kilns were moved to the general environment, and some semi-porcelain ware was produced using underglaze Gosu edo-makki under the earthenware body.
Needless to say, however, Karatsu ware is characterized by its graceful iron cats.
Kanda
Kanda (140 houses) was once the residence of Iida Hikoshiro Hisamitsu (200 koku), and the kiln site is a field in the mountains called “Uchida no Tsutsumi” at the northern foot of Nishi-Karatsu. When we rummage through this sweet potato field, we find fragments of underglaze blue porcelain. They include a tea bowl with a kimono belt with arrow feathers and a hedge pattern on the top and bottom, a rounded shrink-wrapped bowl, a small dish with a twisted pattern on the bottom, and a bowl with a floral pattern on the rim. These are all traditional style porcelain, of course made of amakusa stone.
Some of the porcelain in this area is cross-shaped, as if the center of gravity is placed in the center and a small vase is placed on top of it. It is said that the great-grandfather of the current owner, Matsudaira Kajiyama, bought the abandoned kiln site and cultivated it to produce this porcelain.
Amount of Rice
Now, there are various types of Karatsu ware that can be categorized in terms of bone fumigation. An earthenware called “rice-masu” made in the Genjo period (1321-1324) has a thin glaze but no luster, no squares, and several shapes like ancient Chinese scales, which were used to weigh rice at that time. This Masu was made by the 40th Emperor Munmu in the 2nd year of Keiun, which indicates that it was made before the Yuanzheng period, used as a luxury item, and reproduced later.
Value Omission
This teacup, called “hikigiri,” was made between the Kemmu and Bunmei eras. The clay has two colors of vermilion, white and red, but is lightly glazed with a lead color, and the inside of the pouch (高坏) is unglazed and not wrinkled like a rice bowl. It was highly prized by later generations and called “hikarimono” (priceless object) because of its high price.
Okukorai
Okugoryo is the name given to the Koryo-soy that came to Japan at that time. There are many Koryo-shaped pieces in the Choryang area of Busan, but this piece is an imitation of pieces from the interior of the Korean peninsula, making it Oku-Koryo. The pottery is considered to be of good quality if it has a slightly dense texture, a loquat-like or bluish yellow glaze, and a wrinkled pattern on the base. These three types are called ko-karatsu.
Seto Karatsu
Seto karatsu is a type of pottery produced between the Eunin and Tensho periods, so named because of its use of Seto-style glaze. It is characterized by a yellowish glaze with a reddish-black mouth.
Shino Karatsu
There is also a Shino ware style, in which a thick white glaze is applied over white clay, showing cracks in the glaze, similar to Shino ware. This type of pottery is also made of white clay covered with a thick white glaze.
Ekaratsu
E-Daratsu is a type of pottery produced during the Keicho-Manji period and is sometimes confused with Joseon saltware. The clay is blue, yellow, or black with a light gray glaze and floral designs, many of which are unintelligible, and few examples show elaborate designs. Many of the designs are missing, and some crepe creases appear on the inside of the elevation.
Whale hand and Oribe karatsu
Some painted karatsu are called “whale hand,” in which the cilia glaze has a kind of azuki color and the mouth is reddish black. There is also Karatsu Oribe, which is similar to Seto Oribe.
Korean Karatsu
Joseon Karatsu ware was produced from the Tensho to Kan’ei periods, and was mostly used for water jars and dish bowls, also known as hitori in tea ceremony utensils. The clay is reddish-black with a bluish-white sea-green glaze, and Nagare-glaze is the most common glaze.
Snake Scorpion Karatsu
An old type of painted karatsu called serpent-scorpion karatsu, with a serpent-scorpion glaze and a very dull and heavy style, favored by tea masters.
Hode Karatsu
This type of karatsu was dug up by later generations from Monohara, a place where pieces that had been discarded after being badly burned. The clay is hard, the glaze is bluish black, and the clay is visible at the base and crepe creases are preferred. Generally, Seto-karatsu, E-karatsu, Chosun-karatsu, and dug-out karatsu are called Meimono-karatsu.
Korehanka Karatsu
Korehankaratsu is made of rough clay with a sea-green glaze, etc., and the inside of the base is concave and has a helmet-width.
Karatsu Mishimategate with the same brushwork
Tsu mishimate made in the Genroku and Kyoho periods are imitations of the Yatsushiro style, with or without glaze on the high part. Other styles include Karatsu Hakeme and others.
Dedication Karatsu
Dedication karatsu refers to tea bowls made by Nakazato, Oshima, and others at the Ochawan kiln from Tenmei to Ansei periods, which were ordered by the feudal lord of Karatsu to be made in the style of cloud and crane white patterns or kyogen hakama as a gift. Kyogen Hakama is a Korean inlaid teacup, cylindrical or gose-like in shape, with a lot of pale yellow or rat-colored glaze and a white pattern on the top with two or three chrysanthemum-like circles in a row. It has horizontal stripes on the top and bottom, resembling the crest of a kyogen hakama, hence the name “Kumotsuru” (cloud crane). It is also said to be the original name of “Untsuru,” which came to be used in the tea ceremony after the mid-Tokugawa period.
Difficulty in Identification
Although classified in this way, it is difficult to determine the place of origin at first glance, and the age is extremely doubtful based on antiquarian observation. For this reason, as mentioned in the previous section, even when distinguishing between new and old, there are many examples that are actually from the same period, or that are actually from Hizen, even though they are labeled “nanryo” or “koryo,” making it difficult to distinguish them from those other than Hizen.
Karatsu Tea Bowls
Overall, there are many tea bowls in Karatsu ware. There was a time when the most important tea bowls among tea utensils were produced in Karatsu, as in the case of Karatsu chasen, called Seto chajiri (tea bowls in Seto). In other regions such as Shigaraki, Ibe, and Iga, many agricultural implements such as seed pots and dipping jars were produced, which were later given the role of tea pots and water jars in the image of tea masters. Karatsu ware, which was responsible for the production of matcha bowls from the beginning, can be said to have occupied an important position in the ceramic art world during the tea ceremony period.
Tableware and Tea Bowls
Karatsu, of course, is the most abundant type of Hizen ceramics, but it would be premature to consider all of them as matcha bowls, as the following list shows. Needless to say, the people of Hizen, the birthplace of Ureshino Meicha, also did not live by drinking tea, but used it as a vessel for meals, even though it was also used as a tea bowl.
The Long and Short of Karatsu Ware
Some say that Karatsu ware is particularly admired only for its old Karatsu and dugout pieces, and that there are only a very limited number of pieces made after the war. There are few examples of techniques such as brushwork and mishimate, as in Takeo-type and Kihara-mono, and the elevated parts with crepe creases are commonly superior to vessels made in other regions.
In other words, Karatsu ware, which was nurtured in the Koryo and Yi Dynasty styles, was born out of the Japanese high society and tea masters of the time, and like Arita ware, it was transferred from China as a convocation and was used in the daily lives of the Japanese people, even entering foreign trade. The works were not consistently protected.
Inconsistent Protection
However, the slow progress of Karatsuyaki, which has a long tradition, was partly due to the fact that the business was only developed under the patronage of the lords of the time, and as mentioned above, the lords changed frequently, so the protection and correction of the works were not consistent, and the kilns remained within the scope of a tea bowl kiln, but were repeatedly abandoned. I also regret this.
It would be unwise for Karatsu-yaki to switch sides to porcelain and embark on a modern race to manufacture inferior products to follow in Shiinomine’s footsteps. Karatsuyaki should further refine its traditional heritage and strive to make tea utensils for tea masters who deeply love tea.
Drunk on Tea Utensils
No one is intoxicated by tea, but tea masters are intoxicated by tea utensils. Therefore, a failure in kiln technique, such as a dull and tasteless white porcelain, can be recognized as valuable in ceramics. As in China, there are many excellent examples of this type of pottery, which have been given names, such as Ming celadon with greenish glaze and cinnabar, Haze-yu (sumac glaze), partridge (partridge), and other witty names.
A Sense of Unique Ownership
However, the simple and straightforward products of the time could not satisfy the desire for exclusive ownership of the wealthy or the eccentric tastes of the tea masters. Taking advantage of this situation, antique dealers, unable to charge exorbitant prices for ordinary products, created the fashion for kiln-formed objects, and they were no less skillful than the Chinese in naming the various types of kiln-formed objects as such.
One of the variants
Even if ceramics are fired in a single room, the color of the finished product will vary depending on how they are stacked and how the fire is turned. At this time, when the appearance changes depending on the mineral molecules mixed into the celadon, it is prized as sand-like spots, flecks, or flying celadon, but such celadon is also thought to have been imported because the glaze was soft or the firing temperature was high, causing ice cracks across the glaze surface and prized as flying pattern ware .
Variation 2
A glaze with spots on the surface due to uneven firing is called hanshi (judge), and those made on the model of this type are called gohon. The indentation in the prospective of a tea bowl is called “chadame”. Small wrinkles on the surface of the glaze are called “crepe wrinkles” and unevenness is called “yuzute. Brown or black stains are called “rain leaks. Careless omission of glaze is called “insect bite,” and some people call it “window opening” in the case of matcha bowls.
The third type of alteration
When the clay is coarse and small gaps are created in the base due to scraping of freshly dried clay, they are called crepe wrinkles, and when pebbles are popped out of the clay and ejected onto the surface, they are called stone explosions. The dancing spatula is also prized when a geriatric artist’s hand shakes after he or she has used a spatula.
The fourth object
When packing tea bowls for shipment from Joseon, the bottom bowl of a dozen or more stacked bowls was cut off on two sides to prevent the rope from slipping. Of course, it was removed from the first product and handled, but it was highly regarded as the quintessence of Korean tradition and was later manufactured in Japan as wari-takadai.
If it is the work of a master craftsman with a long history, there is still the tea ceremony, in which even an ordinary craftsman with no name repeatedly makes mistakes and is derailed by the repetition of those mistakes. Of course, some of the aforementioned transformations are truly valuable masterpieces, but in general they are imitations of Koryo works, and few of them are rich in meaning and flavor.
Authentic Koryo Flavor
Originally, Goryeo ceramics were made with an inherently rough temperament and were never made with gaps, glazes, stone crossings, snake scorpions, glaze puddles, chasen slips, yutame, skips, distortions, or marks, etc., that to them would appear to be nothing at all. It would be unreasonable to think that the Japanese would go to the trouble of making such things to give them a certain elegance.
With its long history and the many master craftsmen it has produced, Karatsu-S燒 has the potential to transcend its stylishness. We hope that the local volunteers and craftsmen who cooperate in this project will continue to study the true beauty of pottery, and that the beauty of this artifact, in addition to the natural beauty of this lying hot-spring resort, will be known throughout the world.
