Of imitations there are many varieties. But first it may be mentioned that, prior to 1868, undecorated white faience was largely made at Satsuma, which was afterwards decorated at Tokio, but the refiring necessary completely takes away, in most cases, the distinctive and beautiful qualities of the crackled glaze.

The rarity of Old Satsuma ware may be judged from the fact that the average number of genuine pieces offered for sale in Japan during the last fifteen years has probably not been more than ten, and not more than half of these have left the country.

Though the Satsuma faience has the distinction of being the most beautiful ware produced in Japan, it is in association with the Kioto factories that we find most of the great names of Japanese Keramics—Ninsei, Kenzan, and Hozen.

The wares of Kioto may be divided into three classes: first, the Old Raku ware used in the tea ceremony; second, the decorated faience of Awata and the neighbouring kilns; and third, the porcelain which was the product of the early part of the nineteenth century.

During the civil wars which preceded the Tokugawa period the city of Kioto, though the seat of the Imperial Court, dwindled rapidly in importance; even the Mikado and his Kugé, or Court nobles, lived in dire poverty. Its tide of prosperity did not turn until the seventeenth century, and it is with the advent of Nomura Seisuke (also called Seiyemon and Seibei) that the great period begins. His native place was Ninnaji, near Kioto, and, taking the first syllable of that name and adding to it the first syllable of his own, he adopted the name Ninsei, with which he stamped his work.

As already described, the porcelain makers at Hizen had learned the secret of vitrifiable enamels as early as 1620, but it was guarded by them most jealously. It is said, however, that between 1650 and 1655 Kurobei, a Kioto dealer in porcelain, obtained the precious secret from an Aritu potter, Aoyama Koemon. The miserable man was immediately put to death by his irate lord; but the secret was out, and passed from the dealer to Ninsei, to the great future benefit of Japan. He applied it to the decoration of faience with the most excellent results, for his taste and skill as a decorative artist were unrivalled among his contemporaries, and to his influence may be traced many of the most charming developments of later years.

A man of birth, he was not actually a potter by profession, and had, therefore, no fixed workshop, working at the factories of Awata, Iwakura, and Mizoro. He seems to have made no secret of the processes he had mastered, but gladly imparted them to those with whom he came in contact, and to this fact is doubtless due the rapid rise in the quality and increase in the output of the Kioto ware.

A word as to the Kioto kilns, which were all within a radius of a few miles, may be here advisable. The best known were Awata, Iwakura, and Mizoro; the others were grouped together under the general term Kyomizu.

Ninsei’s faience is almost worthy to compare with the best ware of Satsuma, but is marked by a slightly darker colour, and is a trifle fragile in appearance, lacking the firm solidity of the Satsuma ware. Its crackle is fine and beautifully regular, giving the appearance of a covering of fine netting. His glazes range from a metallic black to a pearl white, through which a pink flush seems to spread.

His designs for decoration are simple and chaste, and the clear, pale greens and blues and rich reds of his enamels are of exquisite quality.

After Ninsei’s death the next great name at Awata is that of Ogata Shinsei, or Kenzan, a younger brother of the still more famous Ogata Korin, painter and lacquerer, perhaps the greatest decorative artist Japan has produced. Kenzan was also a decorator of great power and originality. In complete contrast to the delicate harmonies of Ninsei, his designs are rough and bold, but his colour is superb and his decorative sense unerring. His work was at first confined to the coarser wares of the cha-no-yu, and here the singular force of his decoration harmonises well with the rude shapes, rough earthenware, and rich glazes, so that the Kenzan Raku ware is indeed a thing of beauty. But in faience he had equally great success. Once seen, his style can be recognised anywhere; a rough sketch of a landscape, a branch in blossom, a flight of birds, or the conventional shape of a flower, dashed in with seeming carelessness, but each touch placed in exactly the right spot for decorative fitness. A very fine specimen of his work—a brown pot decorated with an extremely rich design of peacock’s feathers, blue-green and purple—may be seen in the British Museum.

The third great name of the Kioto group is that of Nishimura Zengoro, by Keramists known as Hozen. Born towards the end of the eighteenth century, he was one of a long line of potters. In 1801-3 he studied at the Awata factory, and soon his celadon and blue-and-white porcelain became celebrated. His fame attracted the notice of the feudal chief of Kiushu, who, in 1827, invited him to his province, and built a kiln for him in his private park, at which he produced the well-known ware called, from its stamp, Kairaku-en ware. Zengoro had made a special study of glazes, and the great beauty of this ware is the rich harmony of purple, blue, and yellow glazes which he obtained.

His versatility is shown by another ware which has an equally high reputation—the “Eiraku,” or Kinrande (scarlet and gold brocade style). This is a porcelain ware of great delicacy and beauty, and usually made only in small pieces. The ground is of a soft coral red, upon which is traced a wealth of decoration in gold, with here and there a mass of rich blue.

Of the many other well-known names remaining among the Kioto potters only passing mention can be made. In many families the same stamp was used by one generation after another, rendering it difficult to distinguish their individual work.

The Kinkozan, Hozan, Taizan, and Tanzan families carried the traditions of Ninsei in Awata faience right down to the present day; while in the beginning of the nineteenth century the Dohachi family and the Kyomizu potter Rokubei followed in their decoration the newer naturalistic school. Mention must also be made of Shuhei and Kantei, potters of the end of the eighteenth century, who are regarded as the most eminent masters of the little Japanese tea-pot, or kuisu, and also of their contemporary Mokubei, a potter of so great ability that it is a pity he confined himself almost entirely to imitations of Chinese and other wares.

The history of the founding of the Kaga factories, which turned out the Kutani ware, is interesting and curious. Maeda Toshiharu, feudal lord of Daishoji, having discovered a bed of fine porcelain stone near Kutani, established a kiln about 1650, under the charge of two well-known potters—Tamura Gonzaemon and Goto Saijiro; but the venture was not a success owing to the lack of knowledge of the workers. Not to be outdone, Saijiro went to Hizen to learn there the secrets of porcelain making. The only way in which he was able to do this was by becoming a permanent member of the community. The manner in which he accomplished this was peculiar. He took service in the house of a potter, married a woman of the district, and worked there for several years. When he had learned all there was to learn he calmly deserted wife and family, and fled home to Kaga, where he imparted the needed information. Shortly after this time, about 1664, the Kutani potters were turning out wares of great beauty and individuality.