TOKYO, JAPAN.- The Tokyo National Museum presents "Ceramics of the Edo and Momoyama Periods," on view through Sunday, January 19, 2003. The Momoyama and the Edo periods were the most glorious times of Japanese ceramics. While the Edo period pieces were marked by rich ornamentation, the preceding Momoyama period works attract us with their powerful shapes and designs. Imari and Kyoto wares best represent the charm of Edo ceramics. The current display begins with enameled Imari ware. Including Kokutani style vessels made for domestic markets, Kakiemon style pieces for export, and those decorated with overglaze gold, Imari ware showed a wide variety with the time and to suit the markets. Underglaze blue ware, another major product of the Imari kiln, made steady changes with the time. The Nabeshima fief, in which the Imari kiln was located, created Nabeshima ware with perfect skill and refined designs.

 

In Kyoto, where was the cultural center at that time, refined and high quality Kyoto ware emerged. The history of Kyoto ware is a history of excellent potters. Nonomura Ninsei perfected Kyoto enameled ware; Ogata Kenzan (Shinsei) often collaborated with his brother Korin and broke a new ground in the decorative design of ceramic vessels. Okuda Eisen is said to have started porcelain in Kyoto, and his students Aoki Mokubei and Ninnami Dohachi distinguished themselves with their own styles.

 

Ceramic art of the Momoyama period was born with the popularization of the tea ceremony. The tea ceremony generated "a centripetal force" which drew attention of kilns all over Japan, which started producing tea, wares, resulting in the very imaginative tea ceramics of the Momoyama period. In Kyoto, Chojiro created, in association with the famous tea ceremony master Senno Rikyu, a new style Raku tea bowls. Potters at Bizen, Shigaraki, and Iga where high-fired unglazed ceramics were produced, brought forth-fresh water jars and flower vases with strong forms. In Mino, which was one of the representative kilns of Japan along with Seto, new kinds of ceramics called Kiseto, Shino, and Oribe were produced. At Karatsu, Takatori, and Satsuma in Kyushu ceramics for the tea ceremony were made by potters from Korea. In Momoyama ceramics one can see aesthetic sense common to all the kilns in spite of the differences in the tradition and technique. They attract us with a charm which is different from the beauty of Edo period ceramics.