Japanese pottery and porcelain

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Japanese pottery, one of the country's oldest art forms, dates back to the Neolithic period (ca. 11th millennium BC), when the earliest soft earthenware was coil-made, decorated by hand-impressed rope patterns (Jōmon ware), and baked in an open fire.

Ming Style Celadon Kyoto Ware 1800s
Ming Style Celadon Kyoto Ware 1800s
Kameyama Porcelain Dutch Ship Motif 1800s
Kameyama Porcelain Dutch Ship Motif 1800s

Contents

[edit] Introduction and Prehistory

Continental immigrants of the 3rd century B.C. (the beginning of the Yayoi period), introduced the use of the wheel and cultivation of rice along with other technologies attributed to the Bronze Age. Eventually (in the 3rd to 4th centuries A.D.), the anagama kiln in which stoneware fired at high temperatures embellished with natural ash glaze was produced. Japanese pottery (陶芸, Jp. tōgei; also 焼きもの, Jp. yakimono) was heavily influenced by Chinese, and Korean pottery, which led to the downfall of Japanese pottery over the ages.

[edit] Medieval Pottery

Medieval kilns enabled more refined production of stoneware, which was still produced in the late 20th century, especially in central Honshū around the city of Seto (Aichi prefecture), the wares of which were so widely used that Seto-mono became the generic term for ceramics in Japan. The overlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Korean campaigns of the late 16th century were dubbed the "ceramic wars," since the abduction of Korean potters appeared to be a major factor in the wars.[1][2][3] It is well known that Toyotomi Hideyoshi, admiring the advanced porcelain technology of Korea, ordered his soldiers to capture Korean potters alive. These potters introduced a variety of new techniques and styles in their artifacts that were greatly admired for the tea ceremony. They also discovered in northern Kyūshū the proper ingredients needed to produce porcelain and soon dazzled the guests at daimyo banquets with the first Japanese-made porcelain.

[edit] 20th Century to present day

Interest in the humble art of the village potter was revived in a folk movement of the 1920s by such master potters as Shoji Hamada and Kawai Kajiro. These artists studied traditional glazing techniques to preserve native wares in danger of disappearing. A number of institutions came under the aegis of the Cultural Properties Protection Division. The kilns at Tamba, overlooking Kobe, continued to produce the daily wares used in the Tokugawa period, 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 Koishibara and its offshoot at Onta, perpetuated 16th-century Korean peasant wares. In Okinawa, the production of village ware continued under several leading masters, with Kaneshiro Jiro honored as a mukei bunkazai.

The modern masters of the traditional kilns still bring the ancient formulas in pottery and porcelain to new heights of achievement at Shiga, Ige, Karatsu, Hagi, and Bizen. Yamamoto Masao of Bizen and Miwa Kyusetsu of Hagi were designated as living cultural treasures (mukei bunkazai 無形文化財). Only a half-dozen potters were 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, the Raku family continued to produce the rough tea bowls that had so delighted Hideyoshi. At Mino, continued to reconstruct the classic formulas of Momoyama-era Seto-type tea wares at Mino, such as the Oribe copper-green glaze and Shino ware's prized milky glaze. Artist potters experimented endlessly at the Kyoto and Tokyo arts universities to recreate traditional porcelain and its decorations under such ceramic teachers as Fujimoto Yoshimichi, a mukei bunkazai. Ancient porcelain kilns around Arita in Kyūshū were still maintained by the lineage of Sakaida Kakiemon XIV and Imaizumi Imaemon XIII, hereditary porcelain makers to the Nabeshima clan; both were heads of groups designated mukei bunkazai (see Kakiemon and Imari porcelain).

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 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 and the watery-green qingbai. One of the most beloved Chinese glazes in Japan is the chocolate-brown tenmoku glaze that covered the peasant tea bowls brought back from Southern Song China (in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries) by Zen monks. For their Japanese users, these chocolate-brown wares embodied the Zen aesthetic of wabi (rustic simplicity). In the United States, a notable example of the use of tenmoku glazes may be found in the innovative crystalline pots thrown by Japanese-born artist Hideaki Miyamura.

[edit] Styles of Japanese pottery

Also called Imari-yaki.

  • Bizen-yaki – Produced in Okayama. Also called Inbe-yaki. A reddish-brown pottery, which is believed to have originated in the 6th century.
  • Hagi-yaki – Produced in Yamaguchi. Since it is burned at a relatively low temperature, it is fragile and transmits the warmth of its contents quickly.
  • Karatsu-yaki – Produced in Saga. The most produced pottery in western Japan. Believed to have started in the 16th century. Greatly influenced by Korean potters.
  • Kutani-yaki – Produced in Ishikawa.
  • Mino-yaki – Produced in Gifu. Includes Shino-yaki, Oribe-yaki, Setoguro, and Ki-Seto.
  • Onda-yaki – Produced in Kyūshū. Produced by families and passed on only to their own children. The outstanding fact is that they still produce it without electricity.
  • Ōtani-yaki, a large type of pottery produced in Naruto, Tokushima.
  • Raku-yaki – Produced in Kyoto. There is a proverb of the hierarchy of ceramic styles used for tea ceremony: 'First, Raku(-yaki). Second, Hagi. Third, Karatsu.'
  • Ryumonji-yaki – Produced in Kagoshima. Started by Korean potters about four hundred years ago.
  • Satsuma-yaki – Produced in Kyūshū and other areas. Started by Korean potters about four hundred years ago.
  • Seto-yaki – Produced in Aichi. The most produced Japanese pottery in Japan. Sometimes, the term Seto-yaki (or Seto-mono) stands for all Japanese pottery.
  • Shigaraki-yaki – Produced in Shiga. One of the oldest styles in Japan. Famous for tanuki pottery pieces.
  • Souma-yaki – Produced in Fukushima. Image of a horse (uma or koma), which is very popular in this area, is the main pattern. Therefore, it is sometimes called Soumakoma-Yaki.
  • Tamba-yaki – Produced in Hyōgo. Also called Tatekui-yaki. One of the six oldest kinds in Japan.
  • Tokoname-yaki – Produced in Aichi. Most are flower vases, rice bowls, teacup.
  • Tobe-yaki – Produced in Shikoku. Most are thick porcelain table ware with blue cobalt paintings.
  • Yokkaichi-Banko-yaki –Produced in Mie. Most are teacups, teapots, flower vases, and Sake vessels. Believed to have originated in the 19th century.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Purple Tigress (August 11, 2005). Review: Brighter than Gold - A Japanese Ceramic Tradition Formed by Foreign Aesthetics. BC Culture. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  2. ^ Muromachi period, 1392-1573. Metropolitan Museum of Art date=October 2002. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. “1596 Toyotomi Hideyoshi invades Korea for the second time. In addition to brutal killing and widespread destruction, large numbers of Korean craftsmen are abducted and transported to Japan. Skillful Korean potters play a crucial role in establishing such new pottery types as Satsuma, Arita, and Hagi ware in Japan. The invasion ends with the sudden death of Hideyoshi.”
  3. ^ John Stewart Bowman (2002). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press, 170p. ISBN 0231110049. 

[edit] External links

  • Japan Cultural Profile - national cultural portal for Japan created by Visiting Arts/Japan Foundation
  • Bizen Gallery Aoyama is a gallery specializing in contemporary Bizen pottery located in Tokyo. We introduce famous Bizen artists' works and ship to you.
  • Satsuma Ware, from Traditional Crafts of Japan
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