Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/183

 head, and there are apertures in the side of every compartment, a larger one for the ware to be passed in and out by, which is of course closed during the firing, and a smaller one through which the workmen in charge can watch the progress of the baking. The fuel is placed in the lowest chamber, which is about six feet square, and consists of split pine logs about two feet in length and a couple of inches in diameter. Two hundred and fifty or sixty bundles of wood are required for a single firing, which usually lasts about thirty-six hours. No stands are used for the brown earthenware while it is being baked, but the articles are piled on each other, every second one being upside down; they consequently adhere together slightly when brought out of the kiln, but a slight tap with a piece of wood is sufficient to separate them. Between the heavier pieces, such as the large jars used for packing tea, small bits of dry clay are inserted to keep them apart. The glaze is put on by immersion, the article, as for instance a teapot, is dipped into the liquid upside down, in such a manner that very little gets inside, and then being quickly reversed, is set on its base, so that the glaze flows down pretty equally all round. When dry the glaze is of a yellowish-gray opaque colour, and it is put on before the article is subjected to any process of firing.

The material used for the finer kind of earthenware, that is, saishiki-de or painted ware, and nishiki-de, into the decoration of which gold enters as well as colours, consists of white clay from three localities, namely, Mount Kirishima, Ibusuki, and the gold mine at Yamagano, of white stone from Kaseda and Kushiki, and of white sand from Kominato. Ibusuki supplies in addition a second kind of clay, called bara, which is said to be very brittle, and no doubt is the ingredient which gives somewhat of the character of porcelain to certain pieces of the ware. The Kaseda stone is used also for glazing when powdered and mixed with the ashes of nara wood (Quercus glandulifera), or some other sort of hard timber.

The clay and stone are well pounded, soaked in water, and passed several times through a fine sieve placed over a