Since the closure of the old Kutani kiln around 80 years ago, there was no
more potter in Kaga Han. For the daily use of the inhabitants it was necessary
to buy from various places such as Karatsu, Imari and Kyomizu at least 360
to 370.000 pieces per year. Considering this important quantity and the cost
of the transport to Kaga, Maeda Narinaga the 12th Lord of Kaga decided in
1806 to open a kiln using the clay used previously for the old Kutani and
to find a master to manage the kiln.
In April 1807 Mokubei Aoki from Kyoto was invited as a leader. Mokubei first
borrowed a kiln used for the manufacturing of tiles at Utatsuyama in Kanazawa.
He tried to make pottery using clay from Kanazawa and also from Kutani.
In 1808, he requested the help from his former student, Honda Teikichi (1766-1819),
who was a potter in Arita to built a new kiln at Kasugayama, a mountain closed
to Utatsuyama. They made there mainly green pottery.
On January 15, 1808, the Kaga castle burned, this became a terrible financial
burden for the Kaga Han. The loss encountered by Kaga Han was so big that
the Tokugawa government authorized the Kaga lord to stay in Kaga city instead
of going to Edo for his alternate period.
But even so, they could not recover easily and in March 1808 the Kaga Lord
decided to sale the kiln to private investors. Miyatakeya Kizaemon and Matsuda
Heishiro bought the kiln, they had to pay back the borrowed money to the Kaga
city by yearly installment. Miyatakeya Kizaemon became the chief of the Kiln.
Mokubei came to Kasugayama with a lot of intentions but the result was not
as he expected and he returned to Kyoto in winter 1808.
At that time Kasugayama kiln made Chinese pottery , green pottery, some-tsuke,
colored picture, copy of Korean wares and ceremony sake cup.
They are many names used for signature on pottery, either stamped or engraved.
They are also names painted with brush, however it is very difficult to distinguish
between them. There are mainly 2 types of production, the pottery which were
made at the period where Mokubei was at the kiln, and after his departure
when the production continued in Mokubei style.
After the departure of Mokubei, Matsuda Heishiro , Honda Teikichi, Etchudaya
Heikichi and Nita Tokuemon continued to make pottery.
In 1811 Honda was invited to join Wakasugi kiln. As he left Kasugayama, the
production started to decline and finally the kiln was closed in 1820. After
the closure of the kiln either stamped or written signatures of Kasugayama
kiln have still continued to be used on other places.