Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/272

 moved to Wakasugi, in the Nōmi district (Nōmi-gori) of the same province, and there became the guest of Hayashi Hachibei, the head-man of the village. It was in the neighbouring district of Enuma that the Kutani factory stood: the Nōmi district did not yet possess a kiln, and was supposed to be without keramic materials. Honda Teikichi proved that this supposition was erroneous. He discovered good porcelain stone at a hill called Rokubei-yama, near Wakasugi. The discovery induced Hayashi Hachibei to open a factory, where, under Teikichi's direction, enamelled porcelain was produced. The artist was assisted by three other experts: Torakichi of Kyōtō, Heisuke of Hirado, and Torakichi of Kumano. These four men carried on the manufacture with success. They did not, however, revive the methods of the old Kutani potters, choosing rather a style of decoration that resembled that of Imari but was less brilliant. To prepare and apply the beautiful enamels of the Ao-Kutani would evidently have overtaxed their ability. Teikichi died in 1819, having worked at Wakasugi for forty years. He left two sons, Seibei and Eikichi, who are said to have been expert potters. But in 1822 Hayashi Hachibei, the patron and capitalist of the factory, finding that the enterprise had ceased to be profitable, abandoned it. Ten years later (1832), a citizen of Kanazawa, by name Hashimoto Yasubei, re-opened the factory and placed it under the direction of three potters, Hachibei, Kyubei, and Chōjiro, who had been pupils of Teikichi. This revival was encouraged by the patronage of Maeda, ex-Daimyo of Kaga. In 1837 the industry received a further impulse through the discovery—by Hachibei—of porcelain stone at Niiyama, and pottery clay at Hachi-