Jōmon period vessel, 3000–2000BCE, attributed provenance Umataka, Nagaoka, Niigata In the Neolithic period ( millenniumBC), the earliest soft earthenware was made. During the early
Jōmon period in the 6th millenniumBC typical
coil-made ware appeared, decorated with hand-impressed rope patterns.
Jōmon pottery developed a flamboyant style at its height and was simplified in the later Jōmon period. The pottery was formed by coiling clay ropes and fired in an open fire.
Yayoi period In about the 4th–3rd centuriesBC
Yayoi period,
Yayoi pottery appeared which was another style of earthenware characterised by a simple pattern or no pattern. Jōmon, Yayoi, and later Haji ware shared the firing process but had different styles of design.
Kofun period ,
Kofun period, 6th century (National Treasure) In the 3rd to 4th centuriesAD, the
anagama kiln, a roofed-tunnel kiln on a hillside, and the
potter's wheel appeared, brought to Kyushu island from the Korean peninsula. The anagama kiln could produce stoneware,
Sue pottery, fired at high temperatures of over , sometimes embellished with accidents produced when introducing plant material to the kiln during the reduced-oxygen phase of firing. Its manufacture began in the 5th century and continued in outlying areas until the 14th century. Although several regional variations have been identified, Sue was remarkably homogeneous throughout Japan. The function of Sue pottery, however, changed over time: during the
Kofun period (AD300–710) it was primarily funerary ware; during the
Nara period (710–94) and the
Heian period (794–1185), it became an elite tableware; and finally it was used as a utilitarian ware and for the ritual vessels for Buddhist altars. Contemporary
Haji ware and funerary objects were earthenware like Yayoi.
Heian period pot with design of , discovered in the Hakusan Burial Mound. Heian period, second half of 12th century (National Treasure) Although a three-color lead glaze technique was introduced to Japan from the
Tang dynasty of China in the 8th century, official kilns produced only simple green lead glaze for temples in the
Heian period, around 800–1200.
Kamui ware appeared in this time, as well as
Atsumi ware and
Tokoname ware.
Kamakura period Until the 17th century, unglazed stoneware was popular for the heavy-duty daily requirements of a largely agrarian society; funerary jars, storage jars, and a variety of kitchen pots typify the bulk of the production. Some of the kilns improved their technology and are called the "Six Old Kilns": Shigaraki (
Shigaraki ware), Tamba, Bizen, Tokoname, Echizen, and Seto. Among these, the Seto kiln in
Owari Province (present day
Aichi Prefecture) had a glaze technique. According to legend, Katō Shirozaemon Kagemasa (also known as Tōshirō) studied ceramic techniques in China and brought high-fired glazed ceramic to Seto in 1223. The Seto kiln primarily imitated Chinese ceramics as a substitute for the Chinese product. It developed various glazes: ash brown, iron black, feldspar white, and copper green. The wares were so widely used that became the generic term for ceramics in Japan. Seto kiln also produced unglazed stoneware. In the late 16th century, many Seto potters fleeing the civil wars moved to
Mino Province in the Gifu Prefecture, where they produced glazed pottery: , Shino, , and
Oribe ware.
Muromachi period , Jingdezhen kilns,
southern Song dynasty, 13th century, China. Right:
Seto ware,
Nanboku-chō period, 14th century According to chronicles in 1406, the
Yongle Emperor (1360–1424) of the Ming dynasty bestowed ten
Jian ware bowls from the Song dynasty to the
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358–1408), who ruled during the
Muromachi period. A number of Japanese monks who traveled to monasteries in China also brought pieces back home. As they became valued for tea ceremonies, more pieces were imported from China where they became highly prized goods. Five of these vessels from the southern Song dynasty are so highly valued that they were included by the government in the
list of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: others). Jian ware was later produced and further developed as and was highly prized during tea ceremonies of this time.
Azuchi-Momoyama period From the middle of the 11th century to the 16th century, Japan imported much Chinese
celadon greenware, white porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan also imported Chinese pottery as well as Korean and Vietnamese ceramics. Such were regarded as sophisticated items, which the upper classes used in the tea ceremony. The Japanese also ordered custom-designed ceramics from Chinese kilns. Highly priced imports also came from the
Luzon and was called or "
Luzon ware", as well as from
Annam, northern Vietnam.
Sengoku period With the rise of Buddhism in the late 16th century, leading tea masters introduced a change of style and favored humble Korean tea bowls and domestic ware over sophisticated Chinese porcelain. The influential tea master
Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591) turned to native Japanese styles of simple rustic pottery, often imperfect, which he admired for their "rugged spontaneity", a "decisive shift" of enormous importance for the development of Japanese pottery. The
Raku family (named after the pottery rather than the other way round) supplied brown-glazed earthenware tea bowls. Mino, Bizen, Shigaraki (
Shigaraki ware), Iga (similar to Shigaraki), and other domestic kilns also supplied tea utensils. The artist-potter
Hon'ami Kōetsu made several tea bowls now considered masterpieces. During
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's
1592 invasion of Korea, Japanese forces brought Korean potters as slaves to Japan, According to tradition, one of the kidnapped,
Yi Sam-pyeong, discovered a source of porcelain clay near Arita and was able to produce the first Japanese porcelain. These potters also brought improved kiln technology in the or rising kiln, running up a hillside and enabling temperatures of to be reached. Soon the Satsuma, Hagi, Karatsu, Takatori, Agano and Arita kilns were begun.
Edo period ewer with bird and flower design in overglaze enamel, Edo period, 17th century tripod large dish with heron design, underglaze blue, (
Important Cultural Property) In the 1640s, rebellions in China and wars between the Ming dynasty and the Manchus damaged many kilns, and in 1656–1684 the new
Qing dynasty government stopped trade by closing its ports. Chinese potter refugees were able to introduce refined porcelain techniques and enamel glazes to the Arita kilns. From 1658, the Dutch East India Company looked to Japan for blue-and-white porcelain to sell in Europe (see
Imari porcelain). At that time, the Arita kilns like the
Kakiemon kiln could not yet supply enough quality porcelain to the Dutch East India Company, but they quickly expanded their capacity. From 1659 to 1740, the Arita kilns were able to export enormous quantities of porcelain to Europe and Asia. Gradually the Chinese kilns recovered, and developed their own styles of the highly coloured enamelled wares that Europeans found so attractive, including
famille rose,
famille verte and the rest of that group. From about 1720 Chinese and European kilns also began to imitate the Imari enamelled style at the lower end of the market, and by about 1740 the first period of
Japanese export porcelain had all but ceased. The Arita kilns also supplied domestic utensils such as the so-called Ko-Kutani enamelware. Porcelain was also exported to China, much of which was resold by Chinese merchants to the other European "East Indies Companies" which were not allowed to trade in Japan itself. It has been suggested that the choice of such items was mainly dictated by Chinese taste, which preferred Kakiemon to "Imari" wares, accounting for a conspicuous disparity in early European collections that can be reconstructed between Dutch ones and those of other countries, such as England, France and Germany. Because
Imari was the shipping port, some porcelain, for both export and domestic use, was called . The European custom has generally been to call blue and white wares "Arita" and blue, red and gold ones "Imari", though in fact both were often made in the same kilns arong Arita. In 1759 the dark red enamel pigment known as became industrially available, leading to a reddish revival of the orange 1720 style. In 1675, the local
Nabeshima family who ruled Arita established a personal kiln to make top-quality enamelware porcelain for the upper classes in Japan, which is called
Nabeshima ware. This uses mainly decoration in traditional Japanese styles, often drawing from textiles, rather than the Chinese-derived styles of most Arita ware.
Hirado ware was another kind of porcelain initially reserved for presentation as political gifts among the elite, concentrating on very fine painting in blue on an unusually fine white body, for which scroll painters were hired. These two types represented the finest porcelain produced after the export trade stalled by the 1740s. Unlike Nabeshima ware, Hirado went on to be a significant exporter in the 19th century. During the 17th century, in Kyoto, then Japan's imperial capital, kilns produced only clear lead-glazed pottery that resembled the pottery of southern China. Among them, potter Nonomura Ninsei invented an opaque overglaze enamel and with temple patronage was able to refine many Japanese-style designs. His disciple
Ogata Kenzan invented an idiosyncratic arts-and-crafts style and took (Kyoto ceramics) to new heights. Their works were the models for later . Although porcelain bodies were introduced to by
Okuda Eisen, overglazed pottery still flourished. Aoki Mokubei, Ninami Dōhachi (both disciples of Okuda Eisen) and Eiraku Hozen expanded the repertory of . In the late 18th to early 19th century, white porcelain clay was discovered in other areas of Japan and was traded domestically, and potters were allowed to move more freely. Local lords and merchants established many new kilns (e.g., Kameyama kiln and
Tobe kiln) for economic profit, and old kilns such as Seto restarted as porcelain kilns. These many kilns are called "New Kilns" and they popularized porcelain in the style of the Arita kilns among the common folk.
Meiji period , 1905–1915 During the international openness of the Meiji period, Japanese arts and crafts had a new audience and set of influences. Traditional patrons such as the class broke away and many of the artisans lost their source of income. The government took an active interest in the art export market, promoting Japanese arts at a succession of
world's fairs, beginning with the
1873 Vienna World's Fair. The Imperial Household also took an active interest in arts and crafts, appointing
Imperial Household Artists and commissioning works ("presentation wares") as gifts for foreign dignitaries. Most of the works promoted internationally were in the decorative arts, including pottery.
Satsuma ware was a name originally given to pottery from
Satsuma province, elaborately decorated with
overglaze enamels and
gilding. These wares were highly praised in the West. Seen in the West as distinctively Japanese, this style actually owed a lot to imported pigments and Western influences, and had been created with export in mind. Workshops in many cities raced to produce this style to satisfy demand from Europe and America, often producing quickly and cheaply. So the term "Satsuma ware" came to be associated not with a place of origin but with lower-quality ware created purely for export. Despite this, there were artists such as
Yabu Meizan and
Makuzu Kōzan who maintained the highest artistic standards while also successfully exporting. These artists won multiple awards at international exhibitions. Meizan used copper plates to create detailed designs and repeatedly transfer them to the pottery, sometimes decorating a single object with a thousand motifs. Japan's porcelain industry was well-established at the start of the Meiji period, but the mass-produced wares were not known for their elegance. During this era, technical and artistic innovations turned porcelain into one of the most internationally successful Japanese decorative art forms. A lot of this is due to
Makuzu Kōzan, known for Satsuma ware, who from the 1880s onwards introduced new technical sophistication to the decoration of porcelain, while committed to preserving traditional artistic values. During the 1890s he developed a style of decoration that combined multiple underglaze colours on each item. The technical sophistication of his underglazes increased during this decade as he continued to experiment. In the decade from 1900 to 1910 there was a substantial change in the shape and decoration of his works, reflecting Western influences. His work strongly influenced Western perceptions of Japanese design.
Taishō period Japanese pottery strongly influenced British
studio potter Bernard Leach (1887–1979), who is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". He lived in Japan from 1909 to 1920 during the
Taishō period and became the leading western interpreter of Japanese pottery and in turn influenced a number of artists abroad.
Shōwa period ). It was gifted by
Emperor Shōwa and
Empress Kōjun on the occasion of their first visit to the United States to President Gerald R. Ford in 1975. During the early
Shōwa period, the
folk art movement developed, starting in the late 1920s and 1930s. Its founding father was
Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961). Yanagi was deeply moved by the quiet beauty of utilitarian wares made by common people—particularly simple, unpretentious pots and tools from the Edo and Meiji periods—that were rapidly vanishing in Japan’s increasingly urban and mechanized society. He rescued lowly pots used by commoners in the Edo and Meiji period that were disappearing in rapidly urbanizing Japan.
Shōji Hamada (1894–1978) was a potter who was a major figure of the movement, establishing the town of
Mashiko as a renowned centre for
Mashiko ware. Another influential potter in this movement was
Kawai Kanjirō (1890–1966) and
Tatsuzō Shimaoka (1919–2007). Shimaoka became renowned for his innovative
jōmon zogan (rope-impressed inlay) technique, which fused modern creativity with ancient aesthetics, earning him the status of Living National Treasure in 1996. These artists studied traditional glazing techniques to preserve native wares in danger of disappearing, blending folk traditions with a personal spiritual sensibility, believing that beauty should be found in the act of making, not just in the final form. Both men embraced Yanagi’s vision, not merely as craftspeople but as artist-philosophers committed to preserving Japan’s cultural heritage. A central goal of these artists was to study, preserve, and revive traditional glazing and firing techniques, many of which were in danger of disappearing as Japan modernized. Their efforts were not simply nostalgic but rooted in a belief that handcrafted, everyday objects carried a deep connection to place, purpose, and human touch. However, one of the most critical and challenging periods for the
mingei movement came during the Pacific War (1941–1945). With the nation's resources redirected toward the war effort, artisanal production was severely curtailed. Materials such as clay, fuel, and glazes became scarce, and artistic practice gave way to utilitarian demands. Pottery workshops were shuttered or repurposed, and the market for handmade wares all but collapsed. Yet, despite these obstacles, the ideals of
mingeiendured. In the post-war years, the movement experienced a resurgence, thanks in large part to the unwavering commitment of its key figures and the international recognition they began to receive.
Heisei period to present A number of institutions came under the aegis of the Cultural Properties Protection Division. The kilns at
Tamba, overlooking
Kobe, continued to produce the daily wares used in the
Tokugawa period, while adding modern shapes. Most of the village wares were made anonymously by local potters for utilitarian purposes. Local styles, whether native or imported, tended to be continued without alteration into the present. In Kyūshū, kilns set up by Korean potters in the 16th century, such as at
Koishiwara, Fukuoka and its offshoot at
Onta ware, perpetuated 16th-century Korean peasant wares. In
Okinawa, the production of village ware continued under several leading masters, with Jiro Kinjo honored as a . The modern potters operate in
Shiga,
Iga,
Karatsu,
Hagi, and
Bizen. Yamamoto Masao (Toushuu) of Bizen and Miwa Kyusetsu of Hagi were designated . Only a half-dozen potters had been so honored by 1989, either as representatives of famous kiln wares or as creators of superlative techniques in
glazing or decoration; two groups were designated for preserving the wares of distinguished ancient kilns. In the old capital of
Kyoto, the
Raku family continued to produce the rough
tea bowls that had so delighted Hideyoshi. At
Mino, potters continued to reconstruct the classic formulas of
Momoyama period Seto-type tea wares of Mino, such as the
Oribe ware copper-green glaze and Shino ware's prized milky glaze. Artist potters experimented at the Kyoto and Tokyo arts universities to recreate traditional porcelain and its decorations under such ceramic teachers as Fujimoto Yoshimichi, a . Ancient porcelain kilns around
Arita in
Kyūshū were still maintained by the lineage of
Sakaida Kakiemon XIV and Imaizumi Imaemon XIII, hereditary porcelain makers to the
Nabeshima clan; both were heads of groups designated . British artist
Lucie Rie (1902–1995) was influenced by Japanese pottery and Bernard Leach, and was also appreciated in Japan with a number of exhibitions. British artist
Edmund de Waal (b. 1964) studied Leach and spent a number of years in Japan studying style. In contrast, by the end of the 1980s, many studio potters no longer worked at major or ancient kilns but were making classic wares in various parts of Japan. In Tokyo, a notable example is Tsuji Seimei, who brought his clay from
Shiga but potted in the Tokyo area. A number of artists were engaged in reconstructing Chinese styles of decoration or glazes, especially the blue-green
celadon and the watery-green . One of the most beloved Chinese glazes in Japan is the chocolate-brown glaze that covered the peasant tea bowls brought back from southern
Song China (in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries) by
Zen monks. For their Japanese users, these chocolate-brown wares embodied the Zen aesthetic of (rustic simplicity). In the United States, an example of the use of glazes are pots thrown by Japanese-born artist
Hideaki Miyamura. ==Raw materials==