博多Hakata 博多
伊万里Imari 伊万里
有田Arita 有田
波佐見Hasami 波佐見
Nagasaki Prefecture, Hasami Ceramic Ware
Episode 1
A town like a small plate, made by Mother Earth
With an area of 33 kilometers, the town is ten kilometers from east to west and seven kilometers from north to south. Many streams emanate from the surrounding mountains which all merge at a central location. The riverside is populated with both residents and businesses and we can see their brick chimneys here and there.
Hasami is a place located inland, away from the ocean although Nagasaki Prefecture is often associated with its connection to it. We were told the geography of the area is a basin, like Kyoto, but it only took us 20 minutes to get from the east end to the west end so it felt much smaller than expected. It is hard to believe that this small town has produced so many bowls and plates which supported the dining of families across the country.
Tens of millions of years ago earth's strata was formed before the Japanese archipelago had taken shape. Then some millions of years ago magma intrusions created the rhyolite in the strata. The rhyolite was further transformed into minerals via hydrothermal alteration that would eventually be used to make ceramics. The mountains in the area were rich with veins of these minerals.
Although humans began to populate this land about ten thousand years ago, it was only around four hundred years ago that they realized there were useful minerals in the neighboring mountains. Someone once found a white stone on this riverbank and traced it upstream to discover a mineral deposit. This area was known as “Mitsunomata,” meaning “three-legged” in Japanese, because of the confluence of three narrow rivers.
People began to extract the white stones, grind them into powder and use them as raw materials for pottery.
This was the beginning of the kiln business for several villages in the mountains.
In the mid-1600s the most prosperous pottery production location among these villages was in the valley next to Mitsunomata, in an area called Nakao. The stone used to craft these beautiful pieces was mined from the rocky mountains of the village. The river current propelled the water wheel which powered the millstone used to grind these stones into powder.
They used pine and other trees native to the mountains as firewood to burn in the kilns.
In the era before people began to import materials from different parts of the country, pottery must have been the embodiment of the local climate itself. World traders turned to this region as an alternative to Chinese ceramics which had ceased to be exported due to the civil war at that time. Thus pottery fired in the mountainous village was transported across the sea to the rest of the world.
The Edo period (1603 to 1868) provided social stability which led to a demand for ceramics in many parts of Japan after the strong overseas demand subsided. At this time the common people of Japan demanded bowls for daily use, and this land responded. During the late Edo period climbing kilns located in Nakao reached lengths of up to 160 meters, and records show that over one thousand potters reached a combined production rate of two million wares per year.
The process was divided into separate tasks to improve each skill and increase efficiency. The fires and smoke were continuous as many kilns were operated non-stop day and night to create a steady stream of products. The scene must have been like that of a small industrial revolution. Bales were filled to the brim, loaded onto horses and transported through the town of Arita to the port of Imari. From there they were transported to the rest of the country. This is how bowls and plates mass-produced in this village reached dinner tables across Japan.
While people loved the items that were produced here, they did not yet know any details about this production area at that time. “They were brought from Imari.” “It seems to have been made in Arita.” People would not yet know the name of this land, Hasami, until much much later.(*1)
