Yamachawan and Mino glazes

Even though locally produced glazed ceramics were more widely available than imported Chinese wares, they were still largely reserved for the elite and religious institutions. As a result, parallel to this, the production of yamachawan (“mountain bowls”) developed in Seto during the 11th and 12th centuries. These unglazed vessels, made in a somewhat rougher manner, were accessible to a much broader audience.

The close relationship with the neighbouring Mino region in Gifu Prefecture—where Kimura Hajime has his workshop—also allowed Mino’s innovative new tea-ceremony glazes such as ki-Seto, Seto-guro, and Oribe to take root in Seto.
In fact, the Mino area, which includes towns such as Toki, Kani, and Tajimi, had become a more important production centre by the late 16th century, supported by the daimyō Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582). However, with the beginning of the Edo period (1603–1868) and the Tokugawa Owari administration, Seto was once again brought to the forefront.

Following the success of Arita in Kyushu with porcelain in the 18th century, legend has it that Kato Tamikichi (1772–1824) brought the art of painted porcelain from Kyushu to Seto.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Seto developed into a centre of sometsuke (blue-and-white porcelain), also thanks to the abundant availability of high-quality kaolin-rich clay required for porcelain production.

Sometsuke, meaning roughly “to dye,” refers to blue-and-white decorated porcelain. The characteristic soft blue is achieved using gosu, an impure form of cobalt. As a result, these works often resemble ink painting in their appearance.

Alongside sometsuke, demand for Western-style porcelain also increased. Porcelain thus became a second—and later even larger—pillar of production under the term shinseiyaki (新製焼), meaning “new production,” alongside the original stoneware and earthenware tradition known as hongyōyaki (本業焼), meaning “original craft”.