Black Satsuma Ware

Satsuma ware includes white Satsuma porcelain and black Satsuma which is produced using coloured clay and iron glazes that turn black or brown after firing. In contrast to white Satsuma being mainly used as official ware, black Satsuma was used for daily use by people, earning the nickname kuromon (‘black thing’). Various types of black Satsuma vessels and containers vital to daily living have been made and they include pots and jars for storage, cooking utensils like mortars, as well as tableware items like bowls, plates, sake bottles and cups. 

For this reason, black Satsuma comes in various types, each created at different kilns in Kagoshima and made using a wide range of colours and glazing techniques. Naeshirogawa and Ryumonji are the two major production areas.

The most representative black Satsuma is the choka, meaning earthen teapot in Kagoshima dialect. The word is usually represented by the Chinese characters 茶家, but sometimes also千代香 or 猪牙. A well-known type today is the black chaka, a stylish shōchū (distilled liquor) warmer, which is mainly designed with a wide body that resembles the beads on an abacus. This shape, however, originated in the Shōwa period, and during the Edo period it was common to make the body round. 

During the Edo period, chaka was a major Satsuma ware distributed domestically. It was an essential daily item, often designed with three legs to be used for heating tea or herbs over fire. Distribution of chaka made at Naeshirogawa flourished during the latter Edo period, expanding to regions outside the Satsuma domain such as Edo (Tokyo) and Osaka and becoming an important source of profit for the domain. 

The Korean potters brought with them the tataki technique for creating large jars and flowerpots 420 years ago. This technique continues to be used today in its original form. The shape, usage and name of the tools used today are nearly the same as those described in Kōrai-den Tōki Kigen Seizō-sho that records the production ceramic wares during the Edo period.

 

The tataki technique involves placing a clay ball over the potter’s wheel and hitting the clay with a particular rhythm while turning the potter’s wheel little by little to create a circular bottom for the ware to be made. 

In the early Shōwa period (the late 1920s), Yanagi Sōetsu (also known as Muneyoshi: 1889-1961), a Japanese philosopher and founder of the mingei (folk craft) movement in Japan, considered Black Satsuma Ware as one of the pillars of the Mingei Movement.  

Mugs waiting to be fired. Reddish brown glaze is a mixture of several types of local clay.

The glazes used to make black Satsuma ware were limited to black, brown and soba-coloured glaze with a tint of green up to the post-war period. In recent years, however, many creative ideas for vessels using vibrant colour glazes have begun appearing.

Visitors can see the Ryumonji ware workshop, ascending kiln, as well as the making of the raw clay and glazes using traditional method, while enjoying shopping at the Gallery.