, is one of the oldest
Japanese craft
Traditional in Japan have a long tradition and history. Included in the category of traditional crafts are handicrafts produced by an individual or a group, as well as work produced by independent studio artists working with traditional craft m ...
s and
art form
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
s, dating back to the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
period.
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
s have produced
earthenware,
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...
,
stoneware
Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. Whether vi ...
,
glazed pottery, glazed stoneware,
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
, and
blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptionally long and successful history of ceramic production. Earthenwares were made as early as the
Jōmon period (10,500–300BC), giving Japan one of the oldest ceramic traditions in the world. Japan is further distinguished by the unusual esteem that ceramics holds within its artistic tradition, owing to the enduring popularity of the
tea ceremony
An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transl ...
.
Japanese ceramic history records distinguished many potter names, and some were artist-potters, e.g.
Hon'ami Kōetsu,
Ogata Kenzan
, originally , and also known by the pseudonym Shisui, was a Japanese potter and painter.
Biography
Ogata Kenzan was born in Kyoto into a rich merchant family. His older brother was the painter Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716). Kenzan studied with t ...
, and
Aoki Mokubei may refer to:
People
*Aoki (surname), a list of people with the surname
Places
*Aoki, Nagano, a village in the Nagano Prefecture
Company
* Aoki Corporation, a defunct construction company
* Aoki (store), a men's clothing store based in Japan
Fi ...
.
[Henry Trubner 1972, p. 18.] Japanese
anagama kiln
The ''anagama'' kiln (Japanese Kanji: 穴窯/ Hiragana: あながま) is an ancient type of pottery kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th century. It is a version of the climbing dragon kiln of south China, whose further dev ...
s also have flourished through the ages, and their influence weighs with that of the potters. Another characteristically Japanese aspect of the art is the continuing popularity of unglazed high-fired stoneware even after porcelain became popular.
Since the 4th century, Japanese ceramics have often been influenced by
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
Korean pottery
Korean ceramic history begins with the oldest earthenware from around 8000 BC.
Throughout the history, the Korean peninsula has been home to lively, innovative, and sophisticated art making. Long period of stability have allowed for the establi ...
. Japan transformed and translated the Chinese and Korean prototypes into a uniquely Japanese creation, and the result was distinctly Japanese in character. Since the mid-17th century when Japan started to industrialize, high-quality standard wares produced in factories became popular exports to Europe. In the 20th century, a modern ceramics industry (e.g.,
Noritake
, commonly known as "Noritake," is a tableware and technology company headquartered in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
History
In 1876, Ichizaemon Morimura VI and his brother Toyo founded Morimura Gumi with the intent of establishing overs ...
and
Toto Ltd.
, stylized as TOTO, previously known as Toyo Toki, is a Japanese multinational toilet manufacturer which is known for manufacturing the Washlet (as well as the Warmlet and similar products). TOTO was founded in 1917. The company is based in Ki ...
) grew up.
Japanese pottery is distinguished by two polarised aesthetic traditions. On the one hand, there is a tradition of very simple and roughly finished pottery, mostly in
earthenware and using a muted palette of earth colours. This relates to
Zen Buddhism
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), an ...
and many of the greatest masters were priests, especially in early periods. Many pieces are also related to the
Japanese tea ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...
and embody the aesthetic principles of . Most
raku ware
is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies, most often in the form of '' chawan'' tea bowls. It is traditionally characterised by being hand-shaped rather than thrown, fairly porous vessels, which result from low ...
, where the final decoration is partly random, is in this tradition. The other tradition is of highly finished and brightly coloured factory wares, mostly in porcelain, with complex and balanced decoration, which develops
Chinese porcelain
Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from constru ...
styles in a distinct way. A third tradition, of simple but perfectly formed and glazed
stoneware
Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. Whether vi ...
s, also relates more closely to both Chinese and Korean traditions. In the 16th century, a number of styles of traditional utilitarian rustic wares then in production became admired for their simplicity, and their forms have often been kept in production to the present day for a collectors market.
History
Jōmon period
In the Neolithic period ( millenniumBC), the earliest soft earthenware was made.
During the early
Jōmon period in the 6th millenniumBC typical
coil-made ware appeared, decorated with hand-impressed rope patterns.
Jōmon pottery
The is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" () means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay.
Outline
Oldest pottery in Jap ...
developed a flamboyant style at its height and was simplified in the later Jōmon period. The pottery was formed by coiling clay ropes and fired in an open fire.
Yayoi period
In about the 4th–3rd centuriesBC
Yayoi period
The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age.
Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...
,
Yayoi pottery
Yayoi pottery (弥生土器 Yayoi doki) is earthenware pottery produced during the Yayoi period, an Iron Age era in the history of Japan, by an Island which was formerly native to Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to AD 300. The pottery all ...
appeared which was another style of earthenware characterised by a simple pattern or no pattern. Jōmon, Yayoi, and later Haji ware shared the firing process but had different styles of design.
Kofun period
In the 3rd to 4th centuriesAD, the
anagama kiln
The ''anagama'' kiln (Japanese Kanji: 穴窯/ Hiragana: あながま) is an ancient type of pottery kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th century. It is a version of the climbing dragon kiln of south China, whose further dev ...
, a roofed-tunnel kiln on a hillside, and the
potter's wheel
In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...
appeared, brought to Kyushu island from the Korean peninsula.
The anagama kiln could produce stoneware,
Sue pottery
was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and origina ...
, fired at high temperatures of over , sometimes embellished with accidents produced when introducing plant material to the kiln during the reduced-oxygen phase of firing. Its manufacture began in the 5th century and continued in outlying areas until the 14th century. Although several regional variations have been identified, Sue was remarkably homogeneous throughout Japan. The function of Sue pottery, however, changed over time: during the
Kofun period (AD300–710) it was primarily funerary ware; during the
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...
(710–94) and the
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
(794–1185), it became an elite tableware; and finally it was used as a utilitarian ware and for the ritual vessels for Buddhist altars.
Contemporary
Haji ware
is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found ...
and funerary objects were earthenware like Yayoi.
Heian period
Although a three-color lead glaze technique was introduced to Japan from the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
of China in the 8th century, official kilns produced only simple green lead glaze for temples in the
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
, around 800–1200.
Kamui ware
, from Tokunoshima ''kamïyaki'', is grey stoneware produced in Tokunoshima, the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan from the 11th century to the early 14th century, or from the late Heian period to the Kamakura period.
Kiln sites
Kam ...
appeared in this time, as well as
Atsumi ware
The Atsumi Kiln (渥美窯 ''Atsumigama'') is a generic name for a historic kiln that dates back from the late Heian period to the Kamakura period (early 12th century until the 13th century). It was located on the Atsumi Peninsula
is a p ...
and
Tokoname ware
is a type of Japanese pottery, stoneware, and ceramics produced in and around the municipality of Tokoname, Aichi, in central Japan. Tokoname was the location of one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan.
History
Pottery made in Tokoname dates ...
.
Kamakura period
Until the 17th century, unglazed stoneware was popular for the heavy-duty daily requirements of a largely agrarian society; funerary jars, storage jars, and a variety of kitchen pots typify the bulk of the production. Some of the kilns improved their technology and are called the "Six Old Kilns": Shigaraki (
Shigaraki ware
Shigaraki ware (信楽焼) is a type of stoneware pottery made in Shigaraki area, Japan. The kiln is one of the Six Ancient Kilns in Japan. Although figures representing the tanuki are a popular product included as Shigaraki ware, the kiln an ...
), Tamba, Bizen, Tokoname, Echizen, and Seto.
Among these, the Seto kiln in
Owari Province (present day
Aichi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...
) had a glaze technique. According to legend, Katō Shirozaemon Kagemasa (also known as Tōshirō) studied ceramic techniques in China and brought high-fired glazed ceramic to Seto in 1223. The Seto kiln primarily imitated Chinese ceramics as a substitute for the Chinese product. It developed various glazes: ash brown, iron black, feldspar white, and copper green. The wares were so widely used that became the generic term for ceramics in Japan. Seto kiln also produced unglazed stoneware. In the late 16th century, many Seto potters fleeing the civil wars moved to
Mino Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...
in the Gifu Prefecture, where they produced glazed pottery: , Shino, , and
Oribe ware
Oribe ware (also known as 織部焼 Oribe-yaki) is a style of Japanese pottery that first appeared in the sixteenth century. It is a type of Japanese stoneware recognized by its freely-applied glaze as well as its dramatic visual departure from t ...
.
Muromachi period
According to chronicles in 1406, the
Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...
(1360–1424) of the Ming dynasty bestowed ten
Jian ware
Jian ware or Chien ware () is a type of Chinese pottery originally made in Jianyang, Fujian province. It, and local imitations of it, are known in Japan as ''Tenmoku'' (). The ware are simple shapes in stoneware, with a strong emphasis on subtl ...
bowls from the Song dynasty to the
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
was the third '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu ...
(1358–1408), who ruled during the
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...
. A number of Japanese monks who traveled to monasteries in China also brought pieces back home. As they became valued for tea ceremonies, more pieces were imported from China where they became highly prized goods. Five of these vessels from the southern Song dynasty are so highly valued that they were included by the government in the
list of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: others). Jian ware was later produced and further developed as and was highly priced during tea ceremonies of this time.
Azuchi-Momoyama period
From the middle of the 11th century to the 16th century, Japan imported much Chinese
celadon
''Celadon'' () is a term for pottery denoting both wares glazed in the jade green celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware" (the term specialists now tend to use), and a type of transparent glaze, often with small cracks, that wa ...
greenware, white porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan also imported Chinese pottery as well as Korean and Vietnamese ceramics. Such were regarded as sophisticated items, which the upper classes used in the tea ceremony. The Japanese also ordered custom-designed ceramics from Chinese kilns.
Highly priced imports also came from the
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
and was called or "
Luzon ware", as well as from
Annam, northern Vietnam.
Sengoku period
With the rise of Buddhism in the late 16th century, leading tea masters introduced a change of style and favored humble Korean tea bowls and domestic ware over sophisticated Chinese porcelain. The influential tea master
Sen no Rikyū
, also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on ''chanoyu,'' the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects ...
(1522–1591) turned to native Japanese styles of simple rustic pottery, often imperfect, which he admired for their "rugged spontaneity", a "decisive shift" of enormous importance for the development of Japanese pottery. The
Raku family (named after the pottery rather than the other way round) supplied brown-glazed earthenware tea bowls. Mino, Bizen, Shigaraki (
Shigaraki ware
Shigaraki ware (信楽焼) is a type of stoneware pottery made in Shigaraki area, Japan. The kiln is one of the Six Ancient Kilns in Japan. Although figures representing the tanuki are a popular product included as Shigaraki ware, the kiln an ...
), Iga (similar to Shigaraki), and other domestic kilns also supplied tea utensils. The artist-potter
Hon'ami Kōetsu made several tea bowls now considered masterpieces.
During
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
's
1592 invasion of Korea, Japanese forces brought Korean potters as slaves to Japan, although there is also evidence of earlier voluntary immigration. According to tradition, one of the kidnapped,
Yi Sam-pyeong
Kanagae Sanbee () in historical sources, was a Japanese potter who is said to have moved from Korea. He is often considered the father of Arita ware porcelain, although the narrative is today questioned by historians.Komiya Kiyora 小宮木代 ...
, discovered a source of porcelain clay near Arita and was able to produce the first Japanese porcelain. These potters also brought improved kiln technology in the or rising kiln, running up a hillside and enabling temperatures of to be reached. Soon the Satsuma, Hagi, Karatsu, Takatori, Agano and Arita kilns were begun.
Edo period
In the 1640s, rebellions in China and wars between the Ming dynasty and the Manchus damaged many kilns, and in 1656–1684 the new
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
government stopped trade by closing its ports. Chinese potter refugees were able to introduce refined porcelain techniques and enamel glazes to the Arita kilns. From 1658, the Dutch East India Company looked to Japan for blue-and-white porcelain to sell in Europe (see
Imari porcelain
is a Western term for a brightly-coloured style of Japanese export porcelain made in the area of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū. They were exported to Europe in large quantities, especially between the second half ...
). At that time, the Arita kilns like the
Kakiemon
is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the factories around Arita, in Japan's Hizen province (today, Saga Prefecture) from the Edo period's mid-17th century onwards ...
kiln could not yet supply enough quality porcelain to the Dutch East India Company, but they quickly expanded their capacity. From 1659 to 1740, the Arita kilns were able to export enormous quantities of porcelain to Europe and Asia. Gradually the Chinese kilns recovered, and developed their own styles of the highly coloured enamelled wares that Europeans found so attractive, including
famille rose
Famille rose (French for "pink family") is a type of Chinese porcelain introduced in the 18th century and defined by the presence of pink colour overglaze enamel. It is a Western classification for Qing dynasty porcelain known in Chinese by va ...
,
famille verte
Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte are terms used in the West to classify Chinese porcelain of the Qing dynasty by the dominant colour of its enamel palette. These wares were initially grouped under the French names of ("green family"), and (pink ...
and the rest of that group. From about 1720 Chinese and European kilns also began to imitate the Imari enamelled style at the lower end of the market, and by about 1740 the first period of
Japanese export porcelain
Japanese export porcelain includes a wide range of porcelain that was made and decorated in Japan primarily for export to Europe and later to North America, with significant quantities going to south and southeastern Asian markets. Production for ...
had all but ceased. The Arita kilns also supplied domestic utensils such as the so-called Ko-Kutani enamelware.
Porcelain was also exported to China, much of which was resold by Chinese merchants to the other European "East Indies Companies" which were not allowed to trade in Japan itself. It has been suggested that the choice of such items was mainly dictated by Chinese taste, which preferred Kakiemon to "Imari" wares, accounting for a conspicuous disparity in early European collections that can be reconstructed between Dutch ones and those of other countries, such as England, France and Germany. Because
Imari
is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Imari is most notable because of Imari porcelain, which is the European collectors' name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, Saga Prefecture. The porcela ...
was the shipping port, some porcelain, for both export and domestic use, was called . The European custom has generally been to call blue and white wares "Arita" and blue, red and gold ones "Imari", though in fact both were often made in the same kilns arong Arita. In 1759 the dark red enamel pigment known as became industrially available, leading to a reddish revival of the orange 1720 style.
In 1675, the local
Nabeshima family who ruled Arita established a personal kiln to make top-quality enamelware porcelain for the upper classes in Japan, which is called
Nabeshima ware
is a type of Japanese pottery, specifically an unusually high-quality porcelain Arita ware. It was produced in Lord Nabeshima of Saga Domain's kiln at Okawachi near Arita in the Edo period, for the use and profit of the family. The name the ...
. This uses mainly decoration in traditional Japanese styles, often drawing from textiles, rather than the Chinese-derived styles of most Arita ware.
Hirado ware was another kind of porcelain initially reserved for presentation as political gifts among the elite, concentrating on very fine painting in blue on an unusually fine white body, for which scroll painters were hired. These two types represented the finest porcelain produced after the export trade stalled by the 1740s. Unlike Nabeshima ware, Hirado went on to be a significant exporter in the 19th century.
During the 17th century, in Kyoto, then Japan's imperial capital, kilns produced only clear lead-glazed pottery that resembled the pottery of southern China. Among them, potter Nonomura Ninsei invented an opaque overglaze enamel and with temple patronage was able to refine many Japanese-style designs. His disciple
Ogata Kenzan
, originally , and also known by the pseudonym Shisui, was a Japanese potter and painter.
Biography
Ogata Kenzan was born in Kyoto into a rich merchant family. His older brother was the painter Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716). Kenzan studied with t ...
invented an idiosyncratic arts-and-crafts style and took (Kyoto ceramics) to new heights. Their works were the models for later . Although porcelain bodies were introduced to by
Okuda Eisen
was a Japanese potter of the Edo period.
Eisen was born in Kyoto, evidently the grandson of Chinese immigrants, and adopted into the Okuda family of pawnbrokers. Although he inherited the family business, at age 35 he devoted his attention to am ...
, overglazed pottery still flourished. Aoki Mokubei, Ninami Dōhachi (both disciples of Okuda Eisen) and Eiraku Hozen expanded the repertory of .
In the late 18th to early 19th century, white porcelain clay was discovered in other areas of Japan and was traded domestically, and potters were allowed to move more freely. Local lords and merchants established many new kilns (e.g., Kameyama kiln and
Tobe kiln) for economic profit, and old kilns such as Seto restarted as porcelain kilns. These many kilns are called "New Kilns" and they popularized porcelain in the style of the Arita kilns among the common folk.
Meiji period
During the international openness of the Meiji period, Japanese arts and crafts had a new audience and set of influences. Traditional patrons such as the class broke away and many of the artisans lost their source of income. The government took an active interest in the art export market, promoting Japanese arts at a succession of
world's fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
s, beginning with the
1873 Vienna World's Fair
)
, building = Rotunda
, area = 233 Ha
, invent =
, visitors = 7,255,000
, organized =
, cnt =
, org =
, biz =
, country = Austria-Hungary
, city ...
.
The Imperial Household also took an active interest in arts and crafts, appointing
Imperial Household Artist
An was an artist who was officially appointed by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan to create works of art for the Tokyo Imperial Palace and other imperial residences.
History
The system came into being during the Meiji period in 1890 and ...
s and commissioning works ("presentation wares") as gifts for foreign dignitaries. Most of the works promoted internationally were in the decorative arts, including pottery.
Satsuma ware
is a type of Japanese pottery originally from Satsuma Province, southern Kyūshū. Today, it can be divided into two distinct categories: the original plain dark clay made in Satsuma from around 1600, and the elaborately decorated ivory-bodie ...
was a name originally given to pottery from
Satsuma province
was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation is .
History
Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. D ...
, elaborately decorated with
overglaze enamels
Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling or on-glaze decoration is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firing ...
and
gilding
Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...
. These wares were highly praised in the West. Seen in the West as distinctively Japanese, this style actually owed a lot to imported pigments and Western influences, and had been created with export in mind. Workshops in many cities raced to produce this style to satisfy demand from Europe and America, often producing quickly and cheaply. So the term "Satsuma ware" came to be associated not with a place of origin but with lower-quality ware created purely for export. Despite this, there were artists such as
Yabu Meizan
Yabu Meizan ( ja, 藪 明山, birth name Yabu Masashichi (), January 20, 18531934) was a Japanese artist and workshop owner known for painting on porcelain. His studio produced high-end Satsuma ware, primarily for the export market. That term wa ...
and
Makuzu Kōzan
Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kōzan (宮川香山) (1842–1916) was a Japanese ceramist. He was appointed artist to the Japanese Imperial household and was one of the major potters of the Meiji Era. From 1876 to 1913, Kōzan won prizes at 51 exhibitions, i ...
who maintained the highest artistic standards while also successfully exporting. These artists won multiple awards at international exhibitions. Meizan used copper plates to create detailed designs and repeatedly transfer them to the pottery, sometimes decorating a single object with a thousand motifs.
Japan's porcelain industry was well-established at the start of the Meiji period, but the mass-produced wares were not known for their elegance. During this era, technical and artistic innovations turned porcelain into one of the most internationally successful Japanese decorative art forms. A lot of this is due to
Makuzu Kōzan
Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kōzan (宮川香山) (1842–1916) was a Japanese ceramist. He was appointed artist to the Japanese Imperial household and was one of the major potters of the Meiji Era. From 1876 to 1913, Kōzan won prizes at 51 exhibitions, i ...
, known for Satsuma ware, who from the 1880s onwards introduced new technical sophistication to the decoration of porcelain, while committed to preserving traditional artistic values. During the 1890s he developed a style of decoration that combined multiple underglaze colours on each item. The technical sophistication of his underglazes increased during this decade as he continued to experiment. In the decade from 1900 to 1910 there was a substantial change in the shape and decoration of his works, reflecting Western influences. His work strongly influenced Western perceptions of Japanese design.
Taishō period
Japanese pottery strongly influenced British
studio potter Bernard Leach
Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery".
Biography
Early years (Japan)
Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...
(1887–1979), who is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". He lived in Japan from 1909 to 1920 during the
Taishō period and became the leading western interpreter of Japanese pottery and in turn influenced a number of artists abroad.
Shōwa period
During the early
Shōwa period
Shōwa may refer to:
* Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa
* Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu
Japanese eras
* Jōwa (Heian ...
, the
folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
movement developed, starting in the late 1920s and 1930s. Its founding father was
Yanagi Sōetsu
, also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, was a Japanese art critic, philosopher, and founder of the ''mingei'' (folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s.
Personal life
Yanagi was born in 1889 to Yanagi Narayoshi, a hydrographer of the I ...
(1889–1961). He rescued lowly pots used by commoners in the Edo and Meiji period that were disappearing in rapidly urbanizing Japan.
Shōji Hamada
was a Japanese potter. He had a significant influence on studio pottery of the twentieth century, and a major figure of the ''mingei'' (folk-art) movement, establishing the town of Mashiko as a world-renowned pottery centre. In 1955 he was desi ...
(1894–1978) was a potter who was a major figure of the movement, establishing the town of
Mashiko as a renowned centre for
Mashiko ware
is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally made in Mashiko, Tochigi.
Early pottery in Mashiko dates back to the Jōmon and Yayoi periods. ''Mashikoyaki'' is often thought of as simple and rustic in style, with brown and maybe a little red ...
. Another influential potter in this movement was
Kawai Kanjirō
was a Japanese potter and a key figure in ''mingei'' (Japanese folk art) and studio pottery movements, which included Bernard Leach, Shōji Hamada, Kenkichi Tomimoto, Shikō Munakata, Keisuke Serizawa, and Tatsuzō Shimaoka, among others.
Biog ...
(1890–1966) and
Tatsuzō Shimaoka
was a Japanese ''mingei'' potter who studied under Shōji Hamada and later became the second Living National Treasure of Mashiko, Japan.London, David GExhibition Review: "Shimaoka Tasuzo,"Japanese Pottery Information Centre. September 2001. He w ...
(1919–2007). These artists studied traditional glazing techniques to preserve native wares in danger of disappearing.
One of the most critical moments was during the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
when all resources went towards the war efforts, and production and development became severely hampered and the markets suffered.
Heisei period to present
A number of institutions came under the aegis of the
Cultural Properties Protection Division
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
.
The kilns at
Tamba, overlooking
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
, continued to produce the daily wares used in the
Tokugawa period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterize ...
, while adding modern shapes. Most of the village wares were made anonymously by local potters for utilitarian purposes. Local styles, whether native or imported, tended to be continued without alteration into the present. In Kyūshū, kilns set up by Korean potters in the 16th century, such as at
Koishiwara, Fukuoka
was a village located in Asakura District, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.
The village gave its name to a style of pottery called Koishiwara ware.
In 2003, the village had an estimated population of 1,193 and a density
Density (volumetric ma ...
and its offshoot at
Onta ware
, also spelled ''Onda'', is a type of Japanese pottery produced in and around the village of Onta in Ōita Prefecture, Japan.
History
The production dates back to the early 18th century CE. Onta ware is closely associated with Mingei folk ar ...
, perpetuated 16th-century Korean peasant wares. In
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, the production of village ware continued under several leading masters, with
Kinjo Jiro honored as a .
The modern potters operate in
Shiga
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...
,
Iga,
Karatsu
is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Its name, formed from the Japanese word roots 唐 ''kara'' (China, or continental East Asia in general), and 津 ''tsu'' (port), signifies its historical importance as a ...
,
Hagi, and
Bizen.
Yamamoto Masao (Toushuu) of Bizen and
Miwa Kyusetsu
Miwa (みわ, ミワ) is a feminine Japanese given name which can also be used as a surname.
Possible writings
Miwa can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*三和 "three, harmony"
*三輪 "three, wheel/ring"
*美和 "beaut ...
of Hagi were designated . Only a half-dozen potters had been so honored by 1989, either as representatives of famous kiln wares or as creators of superlative techniques in
glazing or decoration; two groups were designated for preserving the wares of distinguished ancient kilns.
In the old capital of
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
, the
Raku family continued to produce the rough
tea bowls that had so delighted Hideyoshi. At
Mino Mino may refer to:
Places in Japan
* Mino, Gifu, a city in Gifu Prefecture
* Mino, Kagawa, a former town in Kagawa Prefecture
* Mino, Tokushima, a town in Tokushima Prefecture
* Mino, an alternate spelling of Minoh, a city in Osaka Prefecture
* Mi ...
, potters continued to reconstruct the classic formulas of
Momoyama period Momoyama may refer to:
History
*Azuchi–Momoyama period, the final phase of the Sengoku period in Japanese history 1568–1600
People
*Ion Momoyama, Japanese singer and voice actor
*Momoyama Kenichi (1909–1991), Korean prince and cavalry office ...
Seto-type tea wares of Mino, such as the
Oribe ware
Oribe ware (also known as 織部焼 Oribe-yaki) is a style of Japanese pottery that first appeared in the sixteenth century. It is a type of Japanese stoneware recognized by its freely-applied glaze as well as its dramatic visual departure from t ...
copper-green glaze and Shino ware's prized milky glaze. Artist potters experimented at the Kyoto and Tokyo arts universities to recreate traditional porcelain and its decorations under such ceramic teachers as
Fujimoto Yoshimichi Fujimoto ( 藤本, 藤元) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*, professional baseball player
*, baseball pitcher
* George I. Fujimoto (1920–2023), American chemist
* Jack Fujimoto, Japanese-American educator
* Jame ...
, a . Ancient porcelain kilns around
Arita
Arita may refer to:
*Arita (surname)
*Arita, Saga, a town in Saga Prefecture, Japan
:* Arita ware, a kind of Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town
* ''Arita'' (skipper), a genus of butterflies in the grass skipper family
*Arita, a br ...
in
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
were still maintained by the lineage of
Sakaida Kakiemon XIV and
Imaizumi Imaemon XIII Imaizumi (written: 今泉) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*, Japanese shogi player
*, Japanese video game designer
*, Japanese aikidoka
*, Japanese zoologist
*, Japanese pop idol
Fictional characters
*, a charact ...
, hereditary porcelain makers to the
Nabeshima clan
is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Nabeshima", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p.38 retrieved 2013-5-5.
History
The clan controlled Saga Do ...
; both were heads of groups designated .
British artist
Lucie Rie
Dame Lucie Rie, (16 March 1902 – 1 April 1995) () was an Austrian-born British studio potter.
Life Early years and education
Lucie Gomperz was born in Vienna, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary, the youngest child of Benjamin Gomperz, a Jewis ...
(1902–1995) was influenced by Japanese pottery and Bernard Leach, and was also appreciated in Japan with a number of exhibitions. British artist
Edmund de Waal
Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or th ...
(b. 1964) studied Leach and spent a number of years in Japan studying style.
Brother
Thomas Bezanson
Brother Thomas Bezanson (August 5, 1929 – August 16, 2007) was a Canadian-born artist and Benedictine monk primarily known for his porcelain pottery and mastery of complex glazes. Strongly influenced by Asian pottery, often adapting traditional ...
from Canada was influenced by it.
In contrast, by the end of the 1980s, many master potters no longer worked at major or ancient kilns but were making classic wares in various parts of Japan. In Tokyo, a notable example is
Tsuji Seimei, who brought his clay from
Shiga
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...
but potted in the Tokyo area. A number of artists were engaged in reconstructing Chinese styles of decoration or glazes, especially the blue-green
celadon
''Celadon'' () is a term for pottery denoting both wares glazed in the jade green celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware" (the term specialists now tend to use), and a type of transparent glaze, often with small cracks, that wa ...
and the watery-green . One of the most beloved Chinese glazes in Japan is the chocolate-brown glaze that covered the peasant tea bowls brought back from southern
Song China
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries) by
Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
monks. For their Japanese users, these chocolate-brown wares embodied the Zen aesthetic of (rustic simplicity). In the United States, a notable example of the use of glazes may be found in the innovative crystalline pots thrown by Japanese-born artist
Hideaki Miyamura
Hideaki Miyamura (born 1955) is a Japanese-born American potter working in New Hampshire. Miyamura is best known for his unique iridescent glazes, including a compelling gold glaze, the "starry night" glaze on a black background, and a blue ha ...
.
Clay
Clay is chosen largely based on local materials available. There is an abundance of most basic types of clay in Japan. Due to naturally occurring
kaolin
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
deposits, many porcelain clays are found in Kyushu. Kilns were traditionally built at the sites of clay deposits, and most potters still use local clays, having developed a range of glazes and decoration techniques especially suited to that clay. The pottery clays found in the Japanese archipelago range from fusible earthenwares to refractory kaolins. From the Jōmon period to the Yayoi period, Japanese potters relied on high plastic iron-bearing shale and alluvial clays. Organic materials appear in much of the early Jōmon period work, but sand or crushed stone predominates thereafter.
Further refinements came about under the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
influence in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, when creators of Nara three-color wares and Heian ash glazed wares sought out white, refractory clays and enhanced their fineness through levigation. In Kyoto, where demand makes it both practical and profitable, the clay is crushed, blunged (made into slip), and filtered commercially.
The clay is first broken up into small pieces, with a small amount of water poured over it, and is then beaten it with a , a wooden mallet, until the plasticity and uniformity of texture desired is obtained. The clay is then put through an or "rough wedging" process, a kneading movement, after which the clay is stored for two or three days, or sometimes up to a week. Before the clay is ready to be thrown, it must pass through the process, which produces a bullet-shaped mass from which all air bubbles have been removed, and in which the granular structure is arranged so that it radiates outwards from the center of the mass.
Production methods
The earliest pieces were made by pressing the clay into shape. This method continued to be employed after the invention of the wheel, such as when producing
Rengetsu ware. Coiled methods developed in the Jōmon period. Production by kneading and cutting slabs developed later, for example, for clay figures.
Potter's wheel
The first use of the potter's wheel in Japan can be seen in
Sue pottery
was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and origina ...
. While Sue productions combined wheel and coiling techniques, the
lead-glazed earthenware
Lead-glazed earthenware is one of the traditional types of earthenware with a ceramic glaze, which coats the ceramic biscuit body and renders it impervious to liquids, as terracotta itself is not. Plain lead glaze is shiny and transparent after ...
made under Chinese influence from the 8th to the 10th centuries include forms made entirely on the potter's wheel.
The original
potter's wheel
In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...
of the Orient was a circular pad of woven matting that the potter turned by hand and wheel, and was known in Japan as the . But with the arrival of the or handwheel, the mechanics of throwing made possible a more subtle art. The wheel head was a large, thick, circular piece of wood with shallow holes on the upper surface around the periphery of the disc. The potter kept the wheel in motion by inserting a wooden handle into one of the holes and revolving the wheel head on its shaft until the desired speed was reached.
The handwheel is always turned clockwise, and the weight of the large wheel head induces it, after starting, to revolve rapidly for a long period of time. Pieces made on the handwheel have a high degree of accuracy and symmetry because there is no movement of the potter's body while throwing, as is the case with the kick wheel. In the early days of porcelain making in Japan, the Kyoto, Seto, and Nagoya areas used only the handwheel; elsewhere, in the Kutani area and in Arita, the kick wheel was employed. The Japanese-style kick wheel or was probably invented in China during the early Ming dynasty. Its design is similar in many respects to that of the handwheel, or it may have a wooden tip set in the top, and an iron pipe, like later wheels. The kick wheel is always turned in a counterclockwise direction, and the inevitable motion of the potter's body as they kick the wheel while throwing gives many Japanese pots a casual lack of symmetry which appeals to contemporary Western tastes.
Following the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
in 1868, a student of Dr. Wagener went to Germany to learn how to build a downdraft
kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
, and observed many wheels operated by belts on pulleys from a single shaft. On his return he set up a similar system in the Seto area, using one man to turn the flywheel that drove the shaft and the pulley system. From this beginning the two-man wheel developed.
Today, most potters in Kyoto use electric wheels, though there are many studios that still have a handwheel and a kick wheel. However, it is now difficult to find craftsmen who can make or repair them.
Coil and throw
At Koishibara, Onda, and Tamba, large bowls and jars are first roughly coil-built on the wheel, then shaped by throwing, in what is known as the "coil and throw technique". The preliminary steps are the same as for coil building, after which the rough form is lubricated with slip and shaped between the potter's hands as the wheel revolves. The process dates back 360 years to a Korean technique brought to Japan following Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea.
Tools
Generally fashioned out of fast-growing bamboo or wood, these tools for shaping pottery have a natural feel that is highly appealing. While most are Japanese versions of familiar tools in the West, some are unique Japanese inventions.
* or "cows' tongues" are long sled-shaped bamboo ribs used to compress the bottoms and shape the sides of straight-sided bowls. They are a traditional tool from Arita, Kyushu.
* are round, shallow clam shell-shaped bamboo ribs used to shape the sides of curved bowls. They can also be used to compress the bottoms of thrown forms.
* , similar to wooden ribs, are leaf-shaped bamboo ribs used to shape and smooth the surfaces of a pot.
* are bamboo trimming and modeling "knives" available in several different shapes for carving, cleaning up wet pots, cutting, and for producing sgraffito effects.
* , "dragonflies", are the functional equivalent of Western calipers with an added feature. Suspended from a or balanced on the rim of a pot, these delicate bamboo tools are used for measuring both the diameter and the depth of thrown forms.
* are wire and bamboo trimming harps that double as a fluting tool. They are used to cut off uneven or torn rims as well as to facet leather-hard forms.
* , "cranes' necks", are s-curved Japanese wooden throwing sticks used to shape the interiors of narrow-necked pieces such as bottles and certain vases.
* are cutting, carving and incising tools made of iron and used to trim pieces, for carving, sgraffito and for scraping off excess glaze.
* A is a large looped ribbon tool made of iron that can be used for trimming as well as carving.
* An is a trimming harp used to level flat, wide surfaces, such as the bottom of a shallow dish or plate.
* are not strictly throwing tools; these combs are used to score a minimum of two decorative parallel lines on pot surfaces. The largest combs have about 20 teeth.
* A is also not a throwing tool, but a Japanese slip-trailer. A is a high-capacity bamboo bottle with a spout from which slip and glaze can be poured out in a steady, controlled stream so the potter can "draw" with it.
Wares
Hundreds of different wares and styles have existed throughout its history. The most historic and well-known ones have received recognition from the government. For more information see the
list of Japanese ceramics sites
The consists of historical and existing pottery kilns in Japan and the Japanese pottery and porcelain ware they primarily produced.
The list contains kilns of the post-Heian period. Not listed are ancient earthenware pottery such as Jōmon potte ...
.
Museums and collections
A number of museums in Japan are dedicated entirely only to ceramics. Amongst the most well-known ones are the
Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum
The is a prefectural art museum located in the city of Seto, north of the metropolis of Nagoya in central Japan. This museum was formally named "Aichi-ken Toji Shiryokan (愛知県陶磁資料館)", but the name in English has been the same as b ...
close to Nagoya, the Arita Porcelain Park, the Fukuoka Oriental Ceramics Museum, the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, the Noritake Garden, the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, the Okayama Prefectural Bizen Ceramics Museum, and the Ōtsuka Museum of Art. Public museums such as the Kyushu National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, Tokyo National Museum and Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art have important ceramic collections. A number of private museums also have important items such as the MOA Museum of Art, Mitsui Memorial Museum, Seikadō Bunko Art Museum, Fujita Art Museum and Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi. A number of important ceramic items are also owned and kept in various temples in Japan such as the Ryūkō-in, Kohō-an and Shōkoku-ji, however the items are not exhibited publicly.
Most ceramic museums around the world have collections of Japanese pottery, many very extensive. Japanese modern ceramic works are often very sought-after and expensive. Apart from traditional styles art and studio pottery in contemporary art styles are made for the international market.
See also
*
Japanese craft
Traditional in Japan have a long tradition and history. Included in the category of traditional crafts are handicrafts produced by an individual or a group, as well as work produced by independent studio artists working with traditional craft m ...
* Japanese art
* Chinese ceramics
* Korean pottery and porcelain
*
* List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: others)
*
References
Citations
Bibliography
*Smith, Lawrence, Harris, Victor and Clark, Timothy, ''Japanese Art: Masterpieces in the British Museum'', 1990, British Museum Publications,
*Henry Trubner, "Japanese Ceramics: A Brief History", in ''Ceramic Art of Japan'', Seattle, USA, Seattle Art Museum,1972, Library ofCongress Catalogue No.74-189738
*Tsuneko S. Sadao and Stephanie Wada, ''Discovering the Arts of Japan: A Historical Overview'', Tokyo-New York-London, KODANSYA INTERNATIONAL, 2003,
*Ford, Barbara Brennan, and Oliver R. Impey, ''Japanese Art from the Gerry Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art'', 1989, Metropolitan Museum of Art
*William Watson (sinologist), Watson, William ed., ''The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period 1600–1868'', 1981, Royal Academy of Arts/Weidenfeld & Nicolson
*Sanders, Herbert Hong. ''The World of Japanese Ceramics''. Kodansha International LTD, 1967.
*Simpson, Penny. ''The Japanese Pottery Handbook''. New York and San Francisco: Kodansha International LTD, 1979.
*Turner, Jane. "Japan: Ceramics". ''Dictionary of Art: Jansen to Ketel''. 1996. 240+.
*Yap, Jennifer. "Wheel Throwing Tools: Japanese: Descriptions & Explanations – Traditional Japanese Clay Tools". Pottery @ Suite101.com. 30 Apr. 2007. 1 May 2009
*"YouTube - Takiguchi Kiheiji, The Oribe master". YouTube. 1 May 2009
Further reading
*
*
*Simpson, Penny. ''The Japanese Pottery Handbook''. New York and San Francisco: Kodansha International LTD, 1979.
*Turner, Jane. "Japan: Ceramics". ''Dictionary of Art: Jansen to Ketel''. 1996. 240+.
*Sanders, Herbert Hong. ''The World of Japanese Ceramics''. Kodansha International LTD, 1967.
*Yap, Jennifer. "Wheel Throwing Tools: Japanese: Descriptions & Explanations – Traditional Japanese Clay Tools". Pottery @ Suite101.com. 30 Apr. 2007. 1 May 2009
*"Takiguchi Kiheiji, The Oribe master". YouTube. 1 May 2009
.
*
External links
Japanese Pottery Information Center
{{Authority control
Japanese pottery,
Japanese porcelain