The Edo Period: Two Hit Products That Made Hasami "Number One in Japan"

The history of Hasami ware dates back to around 1598, near the end of the 16th century. Its origins are traced to Omura Yoshiaki, the lord of the local Omura Domain, who brought potters from the Korean Peninsula following Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea. He had them establish kilns in the land of Hasami. Archaeological surveys confirm that the earliest products were glazed pottery. Later, the Hasami ceramics industry hit a major turning point when porcelain stone, the raw material for porcelain, was discovered within the village, shifting the focus of production from earthenware to porcelain. This transition was greatly accelerated by the discovery of a large-scale quarry at Mitsumata Toishigawa in the 1630s. The quarry has since been designated a National Historic Site, highlighting its immense importance to the region's history.

Entering the Edo period, the Omura Domain positioned porcelain as a specialty product, throwing its full support behind the ceramics industry. In 1666, it established an administrative body called the "Sarayama Yakusho" (Plate Mountain Office), which managed and fostered production for over 200 years as part of a deliberate policy of industrial promotion. With the domain's backing, two key products emerged that would define the history of Hasami ware.

The first was the "Kurawanka-wan" bowl, aimed at the domestic mass market. These thick, durable, and affordable bowls featured simple designs, like arabesque patterns, quickly painted with a blue pigment called gosu. The name is said to originate from the boatmen on Osaka's Yodo River who used them while selling food and drinks, calling out, "Sake kurawanka, mochi kurawanka?" ("Won't you have some sake, won't you have some mochi?"). These bowls played a crucial role in making porcelain, once a luxury item, accessible to the common people for everyday use, thus supporting the foundation of Japanese food culture. Hasami became a massive production hub for Kurawanka-wan, and by the late Edo period, it had grown to boast the largest production volume of blue-and-white porcelain in Japan.