Mino ware

A general term for ceramics fired in the southern part of Gifu Prefecture, formerly Mino Province. In a narrow sense, it refers to Setoguro, Kiseto, Shino, Oribe, and other wares that began in the 15th century during the late Muromachi period. Its origins date back to the opening of Mino Sue Kilns (Gifu City, Kakamigahara City) during the Kofun period, when Sueki ware was fired. Around the 10th century, during the mid-Heian period, glazed pottery with ash glaze or green glaze was fired in kilns in Tajimi, and Mino kilns were revived as a production center for ash-glazed pottery following the influence of pottery techniques from Owari (Aichi Prefecture). From the end of the Heian period through to the Muromachi period, this ash-glazed pottery (yama chawan) spread to what are today the cities of Tajimi and Toki, and from the early Muromachi period onwards, Koseto-style glazed pottery was produced.

In the 15th century, during the middle of the Muromachi period, this region came under the umbrella of Seto ware, and Anakobo kilns, Tsumagi kilns, and other kilns emerged, and newly formed kilns known as Ogama began producing ash-glazed and black-glazed pottery modeled on imported Chinese ceramics. In the Momoyama period, Mutabora, Kamatashi, and Nakagama kilns (all in Kani City) produced the famous Shino and Kiseto products, and these new products were mainly wabi tea utensils (water jars, flower vases, tea bowls, kaiseki utensils, etc.), which beautifully brought about the creativity of the Momoyama period.

In the late Momoyama period, Motoyashiki Kiln (Kujiri, Toki City) was opened, and the so-called Oribe pottery, which combined green glaze and iron painting, was created, opening up a new frontier in Momoyama pottery. Later, ash glazes were refined and developed to create Obuke glaze, which responded to the new tea style of the early Edo period, but it was no longer considered mainstream at the time, and the kilns were quickly provincialized. In the Edo period, pottery kilns in the Mino region spread to the cities of Toki, Tajimi, Kani, and Mizunami, and in the early 19th century, during the late Edo period, porcelain firing also began, and distinctive pottery industries flourished in various parts of Mino.

Riding the wave of modernization in the Meiji period, production expanded rapidly, centering on porcelain for export. In the Showa period, Arakawa Toyozo proposed the revival of Momoyama tea ceremony ceramics, which has flourished as a traditional industry today.

[Yoshiaki Yabe]

"Complete Collection of Japanese Ceramics 9: Seto and Mino" edited by Shoichi Narazaki (1976, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" "Complete Collection of World Ceramics 5: Momoyama 2" (1976, Shogakukan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

岐阜県南部一帯の、かつての美濃国で焼成された陶磁器の総称。狭義には室町後期の15世紀に始まる瀬戸黒(せとぐろ)、黄瀬戸(きせと)、志野焼、織部(おりべ)焼などをさす。源流は、古墳時代に美濃須衛(すえ)窯（岐阜市、各務原(かかみがはら)市）が開かれ、須恵器(すえき)が焼かれたことに始まる。平安中期の10世紀ごろには、灰釉(かいゆう)や緑釉をかけた施釉陶が多治見(たじみ)の窯(かま)で焼かれ、尾張(おわり)（愛知県）の陶技の余波を受けて美濃窯も灰釉陶の産地として復活した。平安末期から室町時代にかけてこの灰釉陶系陶器（山茶碗(ちゃわん)）は今日の多治見、土岐(とき)の両市に広がり、室町前期からは古瀬戸系施釉陶器が焼造された。

　室町中期の15世紀になると、この地方は瀬戸焼の傘下に入り、穴弘法(あなこうぼう)窯、妻木(つまぎ)窯などが勃興(ぼっこう)、大窯(おおがま)とよばれる新形成の窯で、輸入中国陶磁に倣った灰釉陶や黒釉陶を生産し始めた。桃山時代になると、牟田洞(むたぼら)、窯下(かました)窯、中窯(なかがま)（いずれも可児(かに)市）などで、有名な志野、黄瀬戸の製品がつくられたが、この新製品は主としてわびの茶具（水指(みずさし)、花いけ、茶碗、懐石道具など）で、桃山時代の創造性をみごとに開花させた。

　桃山後期には元屋敷窯（土岐市久尻(くじり)）が開かれ、緑釉と鉄絵を組み合わせたいわゆる織部陶が創造され、桃山陶芸に新生面を開いた。その後、灰釉が洗練開発されて御深井(おふけ)釉ができ、江戸初頭の新しい茶風にこたえたが、すでに時の主流としての声価は受けず、窯は一挙に地方化していった。江戸時代の美濃地方の陶窯は、土岐、多治見、可児、瑞浪(みずなみ)の各市に広がり、江戸後期の19世紀前半には磁器の焼造も始まり、美濃各地にそれぞれ特色ある窯業が興隆した。

　明治に入って近代化の波にのり、輸出用磁器を軸に急速に生産も伸びた。昭和に入って荒川豊蔵(あらかわとよぞう)により桃山茶陶の復興が提唱され、今日の伝統産業としての隆盛をみている。

［矢部良明］

『楢崎彰一編『日本陶磁全集9　瀬戸・美濃』（1976・中央公論社）』▽『『世界陶磁全集5　桃山2』（1976・小学館）』

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