WARES OF SATSUMA
1661. Two years later, Noda and the capitalist withdrew from the enterprise, concluding that it could never become remunerative. The factory was not closed, however. Its subsequent history will be referred to by and by. Here it will be sufficient to note that in 1663 this first attempt to manufacture porcelain in the Satsuma fief came to an end, the reason assigned for the failure being the expense of procuring materials from the distant island of Amakusa, which possessed the nearest beds of porcelain stone. More than a century elapsed before another attempt was made, this time by Kawara Juzaemon, a potter of Tatsumonji. In 1779 he commenced the manufacture of porcelain after the Arita style, but although his technical and artistic success was good, he was unable to find any market for his wares. About the same period another potter, Imai Giemon, residing at Shirawa-machi, Hirasa, in the Satsuma district, set up a porcelain factory at Wakimoto, in the same province, but failing in his enterprise owing to want of means, he returned to Shiramachi and told his story to Ichiji Danemon, head man of the district. The project was now taken up officially, and a factory was established under Giemon's superintendence at Sarayama, in the Tenshin district of Satsuma. Experts were obtained from Hizen, and by using the celebrated stone of Amakusa in combination with local materials, a porcelain of considerable merit was produced. It is not likely that many fine specimens of this ware exist. Such rare examples as are met with show that the pâte closely resembles that of the Hirado-yaki; that the glaze is softer and whiter than that of Imari, and that the enamelled decoration is rather bold and artistic than brilliant
155
