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Dec 3 2006, 9:28 AM EST (current) Tagasaki 128 words added
Dec 3 2006, 9:20 AM EST Tagasaki 2 words added, 2 words deleted

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Japanese style pot
Japanese pottery, one of its oldest art forms, dates back to the Neolithic period (ca. 11th millennium BC), when the earliest soft earthenware was coil-made, decorated by hand-impressed rope patterns (Jomon ware), and baked in the open. According to archaeological evidence, it is among the earliest in the world.

Introduction And Pre-History

Continental emigrants of the 3rd century B.C. (the beginning of the Yayoi period), introduced the use of the wheel and cultivation of rice along with the metal age, and eventually (in the 3rd to 4th centuries A.D.), the anagama kiln in which stoneware fired at high temperatures embellished with natural ash glaze was produced. Japanese pottery (陶芸, Jp. tōgei; also 焼きもの, Jp. yakimono) was heavily influenced by Chinese, and Korean pottery, which contributed to Japanese pottery over the ages.

Medieval Pottery

Medieval kilns enabled more refined production of stoneware, which was still produced in the late 20th century, especially in central Honshu around the city of Seto (Aichi prefecture), the wares of which were so widely used that Seto-mono became the generic term for ceramics in Japan. The overlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Korean campaigns of the late 16th century were dubbed the "ceramic wars," since the abduction of Korean potters appeared to be a major factor in the wars. These potters introduced a variety of new techniques and styles in their artifacts that were greatly admired for the tea ceremony. They also discovered in northern Kyushu the proper ingredients needed to produce porcelain and soon dazzled the guests at daimyo banquets with the first Japanese-made porcelain.