Tamikichi Kato

Japanese: 加藤民吉 - かとう・たみきち

Year of death: 7/4/1824 (7/29/1824)
Year of birth: Anei 1.2 (1772)
A potter of the late Edo period who is considered the founder of Seto kilns. The second son of Kichizaemon Kageto. In 1801, he settled in Maeshinden, Atsuta with his father Kichizaemon and others as farmers, but at the urging of Atsuta magistrate Tsukane Bunzaemon, he tried firing porcelain with his father. With Bunzaemon's assistance, he built a blue and white porcelain kiln in Furutsuji, Atsuta Shinden, and moved it to Seto village in the same year. In 1804, he was sent to Kyushu, an advanced region, by Tsukane Bunzaemon's adopted son Tsukane Shoshichi, magistrate Mizuno Gonpei, Kato Tozaemon, and Kato Kichizaemon to learn more advanced porcelain firing techniques. He first studied at Takahama ware in Amakusa, Higo (Kumamoto Prefecture), then went to Mikawachi ware in Hirado, Hizen (Nagasaki Prefecture), and then trained under potter Fukumoto Nizaemon at Sasaichinoseyaki (Kitamatsuura District, Nagasaki Prefecture), learning porcelain firing techniques. He studied kiln construction in Arita, and was taught overglaze enamel by Takahama ware potter Ueda Gensaku. He returned to Japan in 1818 and became a purveyor to blue and white ware. The techniques Tamikichi brought back with him improved porcelain firing techniques in Seto, and in contrast to the main ware produced in pottery kilns, porcelain firing called shinsei became popular, leading to rapid development as a major porcelain production area in eastern Japan. <References> "Seto City History: Ceramics History Volume 3"

(Yoshiaki Ito)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文政7.7.4(1824.7.29)
生年：安永1.2(1772)
瀬戸窯の磁祖とされる江戸後期の陶工。吉左衛門景遠の次男。享和1(1801)年,熱田前新田に父吉左衛門らと共に百姓として入植するが,熱田奉行津金文左衛門の勧めによって,父と共に磁器の焼成を試みる。文左衛門の援助によって,熱田新田古堤に染付焼窯を築き,同年瀬戸村に移窯。文化1(1804)年,津金文左衛門の養子津金庄七,代官水野権平,加藤唐左衛門,加藤吉左衛門らによって,より進んだ磁器焼成技術を学ぶために先進地である九州に派遣される。最初肥後(熊本県)天草の高浜焼で学び,肥前平戸(長崎県)の三河内焼に行き,その後佐々市ノ瀬焼(長崎県北松浦郡)の陶工福本仁左衛門のもとで修業,磁器焼成技術を学ぶ。有田で築窯などを学び,高浜焼の陶工上田源作より上絵具の伝授を受け,文化4年帰国し,染付焼御用達となった。民吉の持ち帰った技術によって瀬戸の磁器焼成技術は向上し,陶器窯の本業焼に対し,新製と呼ばれる磁器焼成が盛んになり,東日本の一大磁器産地として飛躍的な発展をすることになった。<参考文献>『瀬戸市史陶磁史篇3』

(伊藤嘉章)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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