is a type of

Japanese pottery is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and Japanese art, art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Types have included earthenware, pottery, stoneware, porcelain, and Blue and white porcelain, blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exception ...

traditionally from

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

. The Aizu-Hongo ware consists of a wide range of decorative styles with the use of asbolite, Japanese traditional paints, as well as other paints originating from the West. Hence, the diversity entailed within Aizu-Hongo ware originates from the progression of independent pottery production due to the termination of the magistrate's office. This led to the independent pottery operations to produce different unique styles of the Aizu-Hongo ware. In modern times, Aizu-Hongo wares have been recognized for its practicalities to create various different products ranging from tea cups to

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

bottles.

History

The origins date back to 1593 under

Gamō Ujisato was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku and Azuchi–Momoyama periods. He was heir and son of Gamō Katahide, lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi Province, and next managed Ise Province as lord of Matsusaka Castle and finally 920,000 koku in ...

, lord of

Aizuwakamatsu Castle , also known as Aizuwakamatsu Castle (会津若松城 ''Aizu-Wakamatsu-jō'') is a Japanese castle in northern Japan, at the center of the city of Aizuwakamatsu, in Fukushima Prefecture. Background Tsuruga Castle is located in the center of the ...

. Consequently, the production of Aizuhongo Wares originated during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

and flourished during the early years of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

(1600–1868) under the Aizu clan led by

Hoshina Masayuki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period, who was the founder of what became the Matsudaira clan, Matsudaira house of Aizu. He was an important figure in the politics and philosophy of the early Tokugawa shogunate. Biography Hoshina ...

. Under his command, potters were relocated from Owari to

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princ ...

in order to begin full production. This ultimately led to everyday pottery being accessible for the common people in Japan. However, the production came to a halt during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

where porcelain factories had been burned down and potters were inactive due to fighting in the war. Nevertheless, the production of Aizu-Hongo ware had been able to overcome these difficulties with the aid of all the villages' united production of activities in Japan to recover the ancient pottery crafts. The continuation of the Aizu-Hongo ware industry eventually led to the export of the ancient Japanese potteries to the United States beginning from the early 19th century and continues to prosper to date.

Event

Aizuhongo market festival (会津本郷せと市) is held first Sunday of every August.

Production Process

# The clay that is used to make an Aizuhongo ware requires at least one year of rain and wind exposure. # After being exposed, the clay is then broken up and kneaded while adding water. # The clay is modified to the desired shape by using a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...

. Once the potter is content with the shape, the lathe is stopped and the edges are smoothed out with leather. # The clay is then dried either by natural or heated drying. Shortly afterwards, the designs may be applied directly on the craft or after bisque firing before it is coated with glaze. # Once this is complete, the clay pieces are baked and must be completely cooled inside the

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

to prevent any breakage. The time period differs depending on the requirements for each piece. # The finished pottery products are given a final inspection to identify any breakage or defects before being Source:

Reference links

External links

* http://www.tohoku.meti.go.jp/s_cyusyo/densan-ver3/html/item/fukusima_03.htm * https://kogeijapan.com/locale/en_US/aizuhongoyaki/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Aizuhongo ware Culture in Fukushima Prefecture Japanese pottery

History

Event

Production Process

See also

Reference links

External links