Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/263

 tation. The two best potters of Suizaka at that epoch were Tamura Gonzaemon and Goto Saijiro. Toshiharu directed these men to open a new kiln at Kutani, in the Enuma district of the province, and to employ the lately discovered porcelain stone of Dainichi. The essay was not successful, and gave so little promise that it was temporarily abandoned. During the Manji era (1658–1660) Maeda Toshiaki, the son and successor of Maeda Toshiharu, regretting the fate of the enterprise that his father had desired to establish, sent Goto Saijiro to Hizen for the purpose of studying the processes of porcelain manufacture. Goto made the journey, but found that the secrets of the art were guarded with the greatest jealousy at Arita. His only resource was to accept service in the household of a potter, and to behave as though he intended to become a permanent resident of the province. This he was able to accomplish, after three years' service, by marrying a woman of the place, after which his employer, who had countenanced the marriage, admitted him into the porcelain works. After four years of unremitting application. Goto, feeling that he had sufficiently mastered the processes of the art, deserted his wife and children and fled to Kaga, where he submitted to his prince a full report of the Arita methods. After this event, which may be placed in the year 1664, Kutani potters rapidly attained a high standard of skill. The wares that they produced were of two kinds. The first, and more characteristic, was Ao-Kutani, so called from a deep green (ao) glaze, of great brilliancy and beauty, which was largely used in its decoration. Associated with this glaze were others, not