The name “Setosuke” has been handed down in Iyo (Ehime Prefecture), Edo, Kyoto, Ise (Mie Prefecture), Echizen (Fukui Prefecture), Kaga (Ishikawa Prefecture), and Ecchu (Toyama Prefecture). It is difficult to say whether or not all of them are the same person or are of the same lineage. However, it would not be surprising to find Setosuke’s name everywhere as a potter. （In 1658, Matsudaira Sadayuki, lord of the Iyo Matsuyama domain, retired and built a kiln in his villa in Higashino, which he called Matsuyama or Katsuyama. He produced a wide variety of pottery, skillfully copying blue glaze, celadon, Gohon, Satsuma, Joseon, Ibe, etc. In addition to tea ceremony utensils, he also made stone lanterns, chuju, and keiseki (stone-lookout stone). He was called Seto-suke ware, Higashino ware, and Matsuyama Oniwa ware, and his works were inscribed with “Seto-suke,” “Yoshu Matsuyama,” “Matsuyama,” and other inscriptions.
However, the “Matsuyama” inscription is said to be the seal of Matsuyama, a potter of the Takayama kiln, and the “Yoshu Matsuyama” outlined round seal is the work of Kawai Zuifeng, a potter in Kyoto. In October 1668, Lord Katsuyama died at the age of 82, and his villa in Higashino was removed in 1678. There are three theories regarding the whereabouts of Setosuke after Katsuyama’s death. One is that he went to Edo (now Tokyo) and became a potter for the Shogun’s family, another is that he went to Kyoto to engage in pottery production and still used the name “Yoshu Matsuyama”, and a third is that he moved to Kanazawa, became friends with Morikage Kusumi, and fired pottery based on his designs. In Iyo Matsuyama, there is a person called Nagai Setosuke, whose lineage is different from Owari Setosuke. (2) Seto-suke in Edo: In the “Bu-kan” of 1833 (Tempo-4), it is written “Seto-suke, a tea bowl maker in Nishitonya-machi for pottery. According to “Kanko Zusetsu,” Setosuke moved from Fukui Castle and later became a teacup maker for the Edo Tokugawa family, living in Nishikonyacho outside Kajibashi for generations. There is a legend that he also went to Edo in Matsuyama, but it is not clear whether it is true or not, nor is it clear whether those shown in the “Bugan” are his descendants.
(3) Setosuke of Kyoto One of the aforementioned legends of Iyo Matsuyama states that Setosuke went to Kyoto and still used the inscription “Yoshu Matsuyama”. (4) Setosuke of Ise was a potter from Seto who opened a kiln in Yokkaichi during the Meiwa and An’ei periods (1764-81). (V) According to the theory of Seto-suke Morse of Etchu, but the details are not clear. （According to one of the legends of Setosuke of Kaga in Iyo Matsuyama, Setosuke moved to Kanazawa and became friends with Morikage Kusumi, and fired pottery based on his designs. (7) In “Kanko Zusetsu” by Echizen Setosuke, it is said that “Originally a Seto potter, he baked under the castle in Fukui, but Morikage’s paintings were also there, and later he went to Edo and became a tea bowl maker for the Tokugawa family.
