Awaji-yaki is a pottery produced in Awaji Province (Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture). It was founded by Tampei Gaju in Inada Village, Mihara County (Igano, Nandan Town) during the Bunsei Era (1818-30). Suminpei, whose first name was Toyonosuke, lived in Inada Village for generations and was engaged in the business of brewing shoyu (soy sauce). He owned 18 hectares of land. He always said, “Awaji is surrounded by the sea on all sides, and the land is small and crowded, which is why there are so many poor people. The only way to help the poor is to increase marine production. He employed 260 to 70 fishermen to fish in the neighboring waters, but the fishing was not profitable, so he went to Izumi-no-kuni (Osaka Prefecture) and built a large net to increase his fishing efforts. Later, on his way back from Yurauraura (Yura, Sumoto City), he passed through Ikeuchi Village (Ikeuchi, Sumoto City) and came to the foot of Mt. Shirado. He also tried to imitate Hwang Nanking, but it did not seem to work. The fishing industry finally decided to close down due to increasing losses, but Raku pottery began to produce slightly more rigid vessels.
In 1829, he gave up his main business as a brewer and engaged exclusively in pottery production, inventing yellow and blue glazes.
In 1834 (Tempo V), he brought Shuhei from Kyoto to study pottery with him, but Shuhei left after two years. Minpei became more and more enthusiastic and sold his land to finance his studies, and his relative Yuzaemon, sensing his enthusiasm, bought and gave him a 16-tar (16-machi) plot of land. At this time, Sumimpei’s younger brother Tsunezaemon, who was also the village mayor, sold his family’s property to help fund the project. In 1842, Hachisuka, the feudal lord, heard of this and frequently encouraged Sumimpei to visit the village, and he provided funds for the construction of a government kiln. The following year, he invented Chinese blue-and-white porcelain glazes in Koryo and glossy black. In 1856, Tsunezaemon died, and in 1862, Minpei became ill and entrusted the business to his son Sanpei, who took control of the government kilns in 1867. When Sampei died in 1870 (Meiji 3), the family had no assets and several thousand yen in debts from the pottery business. In later years, however, the pottery became a major industry and was exported abroad in large quantities, and the fame of Sumimpei ware became highly publicized. Kashu Sanpei (formerly Kashu, later renamed Kashu) bought a government kiln in 1872 (Meiji 5) and set up his own pottery business, and Kushida Zenjiro, regretting that Tampei’s son Rikita had become ill and had to close the business, bought the main kiln in July 1883 and restored the business. The Danto Company was its successor. In May of the same year, Tamura Kyuhei established a kiln in Sumoto (Sumoto City), Tsuna County, and his younger brother Tamura Fukuhei took charge of the techniques, producing Hachioro-yaki and Chakin around 1897. Awaji ware has since expanded in scale and also renewed its variety, becoming a specialized tile manufacturing area in recent years. Sumimpei’s work has been described as similar to Kyoto Awata ware because of the soft clay and the sharpness of his paintings (Kogei Shiryo, “Kogei Shiryo,” “Kogei Shiryo”). (Kogei Shiryo, “Prefectural Pottery History and Potters’ Traditions,” “History of Japanese Ceramics in the Early Modern Period,” “Taikan of Japanese Ceramic Industry”)
