is a type of pre-modern Japanese pottery from the Noto Peninsula on the coast of

Ishikawa prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...

, in the

Hokuriku region The was located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lay along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region, which it is currently a part of. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-modern ...

of central Japan.

History

The production of Suzu ware began in the 12th century, at the end of 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), although the style is a continuation of Sue ware, which flourished from the much earlier

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

. Suzu ware pottery has been found in many locations along the coast of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

as far north as

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, indicating that it was a common trade good for the coastal commerce. 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 ...

was a golden age for Suzu ware, but it soon went into decline, and vanished by the time of the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, unable to complete with large-scale production in areas such as Tokoname. In recent times, however, production of pottery along those traditional lines has resumed. Suzu ware was fired in tunnel-shaped kilns built into hill slopes, at over 1100 degrees. Upon extinguishing the fire, the furnace opening and the flue were sealed to starve the kiln of oxygen, causing the iron contained in the clay to turn into a characteristic shade of dark gray. No glazing was used, but some works have a natural whitish glaze caused by ash present within the kiln. Suzu ware products were typically made for everyday use, typically storage pots, water jars, or ribbed mortars used for grating food. Suzu city has a museum dedicated to exhibits of Suzu ware with detailed explanations of its history and production process.

Suzu Pottery Kiln Sites

The is a designated National Historic Site of Japan., covering 12 separate locations in what are now the cities of

Suzu Suzu may refer to: * Suzu (bell), small Japanese bells used in Shinto * Suzu, Ishikawa, city in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan * Sabzuyeh, Neyriz, also known as Sūzū, a village in Neyriz County, Fars Province, Iran Temple names Suzu () was a Chines ...

and Noto where the ruins of kilns used to make Suzu ware have been found. The sites are distributed over a 15 km east to west, by 20 km north to south region, and contain over 40 kilns and were built between the 12th and 15th centuries. Most are surface kilns, and only the latest couple are completely underground. Items produced included pots, bowls, mortars, sutra containers and Buddhist statues, and water containers.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline
Zuzu city official site
* https://www.freersackler.si.edu/object/suzu-ware-storage-jar-2/ Japanese pottery Culture in Ishikawa Prefecture Suzu, Ishikawa Noto Province Noto, Ishikawa Historic Sites of Japan Japanese pottery kiln sites