Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/36

 Potters" or the "God of Kilns." Twice a year, on the nineteenth day of the third and eighth months, festivals are held in his honour, with horse-racing and dancing of the Kagura.

A man to whose memory such honour is paid ought to have accomplished something worthy to be famous. And indeed, in comparison with his immediate predecessors, Tōshiro was a giant of skill. The credit will always belong to him of having opened a new page of Japanese keramic art. As the first to transplant Chinese keramic processes into Japanese workshops he deserves to be remembered, and considering that he lived more than eight hundred and fifty years ago, his achievements were remarkable. They will be further spoken of when the wares of Owari are discussed in detail.

Tōshiro's sons and their sons succeeded one another at the factory in Seto. His grandson, whose kiln was called Kinkazan, developed much skill in the manipulation of pastes and the application of glazes. Some of his vases, rich, lustrous, and brilliant in colour, will almost bear comparison with the masterpieces of Chinese art. But, like his predecessors and immediate successor, he confined himself to the production of utensils for the tea-clubs; that is to say, tiny jars, cups, and water-vessels. If he attempted anything more ambitious, it has unfortunately not survived the lapse of ages. It must be admitted, also, that the general influence of his example was not commensurate with the improvements which he himself effected. Patrons were wanting, the land was wasted by civil war, and scarcely in the seclusion of cloisters did men find respite from the fever of battle. The people had no heart to be æsthetic. Lacquered