Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/199

 the fact that the tiles used for the Palace of Peace (Heianjo), built by the Emperor at Kyōtō in 794, were covered with dark green glaze. It is, however, almost beyond question that these tiles were imported from China,—the great majority of evidence says from Cochin China. If it be admitted that such manufactures were possible to the Japanese of the eighth century, then there will be no reason to deny that the "pure vessels" (Seiki) potted at Fushimi (about five miles from Kyōtō) during the reign of the Emperor Yuriaku (457–479), were also glazed. No such theory will bear scrutiny. Both the Seiki of Yuriaku's time and the pieces manufactured by Minamoto no Yasuchika were undoubtedly a species of fine red unglazed pottery, such as is used to this day in ceremonial utensils. When the Taikō received the Korean ambassadors in audience at Kyōtō, wine was handed round in earthenware cups, as it would still be on a similar occasion were Japanese usages observed. At the close of the fifteenth century Prince Yoshimasa's enthusiasm for the Cha-no-Yu ought to have given a marked impulse to the keramic art. Such was not the case, however. It is true that Yoshimasa caused a small kiln to be erected at his palace of Higashi-yama, and that his example was followed by many private persons. But the results of these amateur efforts are described by Japanese writers as soft, imperfectly fired, and generally defective faience. In fact, the nature of this early Kyōtō ware depended entirely on the accidental skill of people who practised the art as much for amusement as for profit.

After Yoshimasa's decease the most renowned patron of the Cha-no-Yu was Takeda Shinshiro, feudal chief of Inaba (born 1505, died 1558), whose artist-