Hasami ware

The Nagasaki ceramics wholesale cooperative describes Hasami Town as the home of Hasami ware and places the town near the Saga prefectural border. The Hasami ceramics manufacturing cooperative is based in Isekigo, Higashisonogi District, and the Ceramics Hall also stands in Hasami Town. These place names keep the ware grounded: Hasami ware is a local ceramics production area shaped by kilns, trading firms, cooperative makers, and vessels intended for ordinary tables.

Pottery-making in Hasami is described as beginning around 1580. The Shimo-Hiekoba kiln site is placed around 1590 to 1610, and the Hatanohara kiln site was built by the Omura family in 1599 with a connection to Korean potters of the Joseon period. Around 1610, Korean potters and their techniques helped bring porcelain such as white porcelain, blue-and-white, and celadon into Hasami. Around 1630, porcelain production became full-scale, and celadon was among the wares sent overseas.

Kurawanka bowls give Hasami ware one of its clearest daily-use shapes. The Ceramics Hall presents the Kurawanka Fujita Collection, tying that bowl form to domestic tableware rather than to display alone. Kompura bottles point in another direction: they were containers for sake and soy sauce made for overseas export and produced in large quantities in Hasami. Together, the bowl and the bottle show a production area attentive to rice bowls, hands, liquids, storage, and travel.

Hasami’s present structure is also organized through people and groups. The manufacturing cooperative has 53 members, while the Nagasaki ceramics wholesale cooperative is made up of trading firms that want to advance Hasami ware through local kilns. The same area is described as handling long-used designs as well as newer ideas and designs. A 19-member youth section works on successor training, manufacturing skill, market visits, and original product development, giving the daily vessel a visible community behind it.

The Ceramics Hall stands in a corner of Yakimono Park and presents a 400-year arc of Hasami ware, the Kurawanka Fujita Collection, and contemporary objects. Groups can arrange painting and wheel experiences in advance, putting hands near the motions that precede a finished vessel. The youth section has also worked on lighting ceramics and an original curry plate, concrete examples of how tableware skills can move into new light sources, plate shapes, and dining scenes.