Kutani-yaki is one of Japan's representative colored porcelains, and its greatest appeal is its "overglaze painting" technique. The most attractive feature of Kutani Yaki is overglaze painting, a technique in which a pattern is painted on the glaze after firing, and then fired again.
Kutaniyaki overglaze enameling is called Gosai-te, which consists of red, yellow, green, purple, and navy blue, and it creates a magnificent colorful effect and graceful patterns. The richness of color is a characteristic of Kutaniyaki.
During the Edo period, the Kaga Clan encouraged learning and literature, and developed a traditional culture centered on the castle town. Along with this, highly artistic traditional techniques such as Kaga yuzen, Kanazawa lacquerware, and Wajima lacquerware were born, and these techniques have been handed down to the present day. Currently, Nomi City accounts for approximately 80% of the total production of Kutani ware.
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Kutani Ware”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.
Kutani ware has a history of about 360 years. It was founded in 1655 by Saijiro Goto, who learned pottery techniques in Arita, by order of the Daishoji clan, a branch of the Kaga Maeda clan, in Kutani Village, Enuma County. However, the kiln was closed about 50 years after its opening around 1701 during the Genroku era (1688-1704). It is still unclear why the kiln was closed. For the next 100 years, Imariyaki was the most common type of pottery in Japan. After a gap of more than 110 years, during the Bunka era (1804-17), various kilns called "Re-established Kutani" were opened one after another in various parts of Kaga.
One of the most representative examples is Aoki Mokubei, a literati painter from Kyoto, who was invited to build a kiln at Kasuga-yama in Kanazawa. This led to the revival of Kutani-yaki, with the Kaga domain's Kasugayama kiln, the Wakasugi kiln built with the help of Wakasugi village headman Hayashi Hachihei, and the Yoshidaya kiln opened by Toyoda Den'emon, a wealthy merchant from Daishoji Temple, all of which developed distinctive styles in accordance with the Kutani style with the aim of reviving Old Kutani-yaki.
In the Meiji period (1868-1912), Kutani Shozo's colorful gold brocade became famous, and the Vienna World's Fair led to the export of large quantities of Kutani-yaki to foreign countries. This led to the spread of the Kutaniyaki name. Today, Kutani-yaki is used as a gift by the Imperial Household Agency and was presented as a wedding gift to Prince Charles of the United Kingdom, and is also widely used by prominent foreign people. While the history of the company continues to accumulate, it is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the times.
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Kutani Ware”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.