Minamigawara is one of the outer mountains of the former Saga Nabeshima territory. It is called Nangora or Nangora in the dialect. There are various theories in old books, but it is thought to be a corruption of Minami-koryo. In the old days, porcelain was called Koryo and the kiln site was called Koryozan. Today, there are places in the old kiln sites of Uchida and Omura where the character for Koryo is used, even if it is Gora Gora today. Minamikawahara is located in Kyokugawa, Nishi-Arita-cho, Nishi-Matsuura-gun, Saga Prefecture, about 1 km southwest of Arita Station. It is a north-facing valley between the mountains on the border of Nagasaki Prefecture to the southwest and the hills of Arita Town to the east. Surrounded by kiln sites such as Yoshinomoto, Yanaginomoto, Haramei, Seiroku-no-Tsuji, Komizo, and Komonononari from the northern part of Hirado, the village also has sites of pre-porcelain kilns in Tenjin-no-mori and other areas. Among the tableware and other ceramics produced at these kilns, there are rectangular and square shapes with spatula marks, a technique thought to have been used in Kyoto, which is different from other kilns. While Arita, which had been producing porcelain since the porcelain age, was originally of the Korean lineage, including Kanegae, Fukami, Momota, and Iwao, Minamikawawara was of the Japanese lineage, including Kakiemon. After the reorganization, the conversion to more exquisite pieces was encouraged, and special Japanese were also protected, and Kakiemon was one of them. Kakiemon was one of them. Since that time, he became more and more sophisticated and surpassed Uchiyama, which is a source of pride among Japanese potters. The reason why the family name of Kanegae is still used in this area is because Sotayu, a descendant of Kanegae, lost his job and became a craftsman of Kakiemon. In the same period as Kakiemon I, there were master craftsmen such as Nakano Tokubei and Tokunaga Tsunemitsu, and later, around the Bunka period (1804-18), there were Higuchi Risaburo and his son from Kaminamigawara, and there were many master craftsmen. This is a bad practice peculiar to the toolmakers, because Kakiemon is so famous, and also because they want to sell their wares at a high price. Unlike matcha utensils, a set of porcelain tableware requires 20 customers, so it cannot be made by two or three people. It is regrettable that there are no records or family histories of potters other than Kakiemon because of the rapid rise and fall of the pottery industry.
In the Kanbun period (1661-173), the Nabeshima family’s pottery workshop was moved to this area, and in the Enpo period (1673-81), it was moved to the more remote Okawachi (Okawachi-machi, Imari City). Kakiemon’s name is not shown. Shibunosuke X must have been closed at the time. Among the pre-Revolutionary period potters, Tatebayashi Hyotayu of Shimonankawara is mentioned. He is said to have put his pottery in a long-locked pot after removing it from the kiln and locked it up so that no one could see it. Perhaps he was afraid that his ingenious work would be imitated. Hyotayu died in December 1836. His successor was Tatsuju, the second son of Kiheiji Arita Tsuji, who was also a master potter. Another son was Tatebayashi Kikujiro, who died in March 1851 (Kaei 4) at the age of 43. Generally, Kaminaminamikawara specialized in large bowls, while Shimonamikawara produced many small tableware pieces. Another well-known craftsman in Shimonamikawara was Tatebayashi Moritaro, a master potter and painter of flowers and birds, who died in the first month of 1850 at the age of 28. Kanegae Kumagoro was a master of landscape painting and also learned kiln firing. Tominaga Kankuro was a painter who specialized in flowers and birds, and died in August 1874 at the age of 39. Kiheita Konishi was a painter who excelled in landscapes and figures, and died in August 1876 at the age of 43. Mizokami Jinkuro was a painter who excelled at portraits and flowers and birds, and died in January 1887 at the age of 54. Yaokichi Kanagae was a molding artisan and a master of small articles, and died in July 1900 at the age of 58. Iyokichi Kofuji was a potter and wheelwright who worked for Kakiemon, but died in July of the same year at the age of 73. Minamikawahara was an old production center for ceramics, and after the transition to porcelain, the main products were exquisite. In modern times, even during the boom years of 1920 (Taisho 9), the annual production was only 55,000 yen, and the number of houses was also decreasing. The forty kiln houses in Shimonaminamikawahara had only one other kiln ware master, Chugo Konishi, besides Kakiemon Sakaida, and the prosperity of the old days seemed like a dream. (Shinichi Terauchi)
