Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/136

 Prince's house. The wares produced at this period were not, however, of first-rate quality. It was not till the Gembun era (1736–1741) that Soejima Jirobei, grandson of Unkaku, by mixing local materials with porcelain stone from Amakusa, succeeded in manufacturing choice specimens. In 1840 the representative of the family was Soejima Kaneyuki. He acquired considerable reputation by introducing improved methods of kiln building. The present representative is Soejima Risaburo. In 1878 he found, at Daikokugen in the vicinity of the pottery, a porcelain stone similar to that of Amakusa, and the workmen were thus saved the expense of procuring their materials from so great a distance. Two years later Risaburo formed an association called the Seisei-sha. Hitherto, for some unexplained reason, the manufacture of large pieces had been forbidden to the potters of Yoshida-mura, but, this restriction being now removed, plaques three feet in diameter and other important specimens began to be produced. Two other descendants of Soejima Unkaku are also engaged in the potter's trade. The first is Soejima Rinzo, whose ancestor, a son of Unkaku, opened a pottery in the Kuan-ei era (1624–1643); the second is Soejima Jisaku, whose father, Moemon, flourished from 1830 to 1843. Moemon acquired a name for his skill in manufacturing blue-and-white porcelain after the Chinese style. He used to sell much of this ware to Chinese merchants in Nagasaki. His work obtained such popularity that his feudal chief gave him the artist name of Ungetsu, with which he thenceforth marked his best pieces.

Considering the circumstances of the development of the porcelain industry in Hizen, the student expects to find that representatives of the same family of potters worked at different factories. The story of the Odashi potteries illustrates this. In 1598 Nabeshima Naoshige, feudal chief of Hizen, caused a number of Koreans to settle in the Odashi district. They opened kilns at Shirakiwara and Kamezo, the traces of which are still to be seen. Other Koreans, who had settled in the neighbouring district of Hakama-no, coöperated in the work. The wares then produced were pottery or stone-ware, and the potters appear to have led a very