HISTORY OF SETO WARE
"Setomono" and the History of Seto Ware
When Japanese people say "setomono", they mean pottery. The word comes from Seto.
The word for pottery
Across much of Japan, bowls and plates are still called setomono — "things from Seto". That a single town's name became the everyday word for ceramics says how widely Seto ware was traded and how deeply it entered daily life.
The medieval period: glazed stoneware
By the Kamakura period (13th century), Seto was already producing glazed stoneware. It is generally regarded as the only place in Japan at the time making fully glazed pottery, which set its work apart and is why Seto is counted among the Six Ancient Kilns.
The Edo period: hongyo-yaki and shinsei-yaki
Throughout the Edo period, Seto remained a stoneware town, firing the vessels of daily life: mortars, jars, bowls, flasks. OUJIGAMA was founded in the middle of this period.
In the early nineteenth century, porcelain techniques arrived in Seto. The new porcelain was called shinsei-yaki; the traditional stoneware became hongyo-yaki. From then on Seto was unusual in Japan for making both.
Modern times to today
From the Meiji era onward, Seto produced ceramics in great quantities, for export and for the home. Kilns changed — from wood-fired climbing kilns to coal, oil and gas — and the town changed with them.
Through all of this, OUJIGAMA has kept making suribachi and other vessels on the same ground since the mid-Edo period. Our workshop building, the moro of 1900, is still in daily use.
Our kilns and history → About OUJIGAMA →
Related pages Seto ware / Hongyo-yaki / Suribachi