Japanese Pottery and Porcelain

Unglazed and Glazed Traditions

Though Japan has one of the world's earliest dated and longest continuous pottery
cultures (the Jomon culture; lasting from roughly 10,000 b.c. to about 300 b.c.), there is
no known direct continuity with today's traditional Japanese pottery. Today, most
Japanese pottery--besides porcelain, a small amount of earthenware, and Raku--is
stoneware. That is, it is pottery fired at around 1250°C. A kiln design--the subterranean
anagama, a "hole kiln" dug into the slope of a hill--that allowed such temperatures was
brought from the Asian continent in the early centuries of the common era. Unglazed
wares have the longest history in Japan, being thought to derive directly from the vitreous
Sue ware fired in these anagama. Bizen ware, and the historical wares of Shigaraki,
Tokoname, Echizen, Tamba, and Suzu are the most famous. Glazed wares were produced
at an early date briefly at different sites, mainly emulating Chinese pots, but Japanese
glazed stoneware had its real start after warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi's abortive invasions
of Korea--sometimes now called the "Potters Wars"--in 1594 and 1597. One result of
these military failures was the bringing of Korean potters to Japan, who either started
new potteries or revitalized flagging Japanese kilns. All the Japanese glazed wares--major
tea wares and folk kilns as well--were the result, either direct or indirect, of this influx of
Korean technique (see the Porcelain page). The continental ceramics techniques included
an efficient kick wheel and climbing kilns capable of sensitive temperature control.

Letting Everything Speak

The aesthetic of letting all aspects of the craft--materials, processes, and techniques--
speak holds sway in the world of ceramics. The clay, the forming processes, the tools, the
decoration techniques, the glazes, the kiln, and fire all have their own voices and modes
of expression. The Japanese potter works to allow these individual statements and
expressions--these essences of the craft--full freedom to emerge and sing. Technical
mastery and intense intimacy with all aspects of the craft are needed to achieve this.

Whether a potter digs the clay or buys it, he or she must know the clay as well as his/her
own skin in order to utilize it fully and free it to speak with its own voice. This intimacy
of maker and materials removes aesthetic restraints. For example, a clay does not have to
be the best. "Living National Treasure" Shoji Hamada used the decidedly problematic
local Mashiko clay, but allowed its character to fuse with his own aesthetic aims, thus
freeing both clay and artist for creative release.

Nuances of Clay and Fire

Particularly with unglazed stonewares (known as yakishime), the potter must know both
the clay and the kiln better than his/her own offspring. The serious Japanese potter
generally digs his/her own clay, at least in part, and develops an embarrassing intimacy
with all its attributes and idiosyncracies. All a potter's hand tools are made by the potter
to fit his/her hand and custom. Artist potters today often build a number of different kilns
to obtain different effects, with glazed as well as unglazed wares.

Variations and derivations of the through-draft anagama kiln are particularly popular with
contemporary potters. To allow the kiss of flame or the dramatic accumulation of natural
ash glaze from the wood fuel to remain on the pot surface, the potter must know how
flame behaves in every part of the kiln, what forms to put where and what clay types to
put where. Assuming that a traditional wood-fired kiln (an anagama or a climbing kiln) is
used, the type of wood will make a great difference, as will the timing of throwing in logs
and amount of fuel. Even how the logs are chucked into the kiln has an effect.

Sweet Technique

The traditional Japanese potter internalizes this technical proficiency as a matter of

course. But (in the ideal world), rather than technique glorified, technical proficiency
shouting out its importance as a virtuoso achievement, as is the case in the European
pottery tradition, technique in Japan becomes important because it does not itself assume
grandeur, because it remains the supporting, unseen servant and handmaiden not only of
the potter but of the materials and the art itself. Perhaps this is the reason for another
fact--in no other country is there a public that supports the art of pottery as in Japan.

The Beauty of Diversity

The aesthetic of allowing all the materials and techniques of pottery to speak out comes
in large part from the aesthetic of the tea ceremony and is far too involved to discuss
here. Enough to say that Japanese pottery displays a kind of intimacy and affectionate
quality that does not interfere with expressive or artistic strength. Japanese stoneware is
easy to relate to. In the case of a Japanese meal, not only is food savored, but the vessels
are as well. Each vessel is noticed and, if it deserves it, is admired. A vessel serves as a
"picture frame" for food and is also there to be appreciated on its own. Thus, the wares in
which a Japanese meal is served provide nourishment to every aspect of the human
psyche--the body, emotions, and mind, particularly if the diner has an eye for beauty and
even more so if he/she has knowledge about the kind of ware, its history, the period or
contemporary potter who made the pot, the glazes, and all the other techniques of the
craft.

From: http://kougeihin.jp/en/crafts/introduction/pottery-and-porcelain