Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/275

 potter (Honda Teikichi) of Hizen, who had the assistance of artists from Hirado, Kyōtō, and elsewhere; that the wares produced were of the Arita rather than the Kutani fashion; that in 1843 manufacture of the beautiful Ao-Kutani ware was successfully recommenced, chiefly through the exertions of an artist called Matsumoto Kikusaburo; that the industry grew in Nōmori-gori until (1855) there were seven factories employing two hundred artisans; and that the materials used were found at Gokokuji, Nabedani, Sano-mura, Ono-mura, and elsewhere.

Before speaking of the qualities of the wares produced in the Nōmi district, it is necessary to turn, for a moment to the Enuma district, where, as explained above, the original Kutani-yaki was manufactured. Here the revival of the industry did not take place until 1809, when Yoshida Denemon, a merchant of Daishōji, established a factory at Kutani. Two years later, with a view to greater facilities of access, the factory was removed to Yamashiro-mura, in the vicinity of Daishōji. Kutani porcelain stone, from Dainichi-yama, was employed, and the decorative methods of the old Ao-Kutani—green, purple, blue, and yellow enamels—were followed as closely as possible. The ware thus produced was commonly called Yoshida-yaki. Associated with Yoshida was an expert called Myamoto Uemon. These two men continued to work with success until 1840, when Uemon was succeeded by his son Riemon. About this time the factory obtained the services of an artist called Iida Hachiroemon, who effected a marked change in the decorative fashion of the ware by introducing a style known as Akaji-kinga, or gold designs on a red ground. It was not an original idea. The Chinese