, Palsan and his father-in-law, known only by his Japanese name Shinkur, built a kiln on the eastern border of the province, at the base of Takatori Mountain (east of present-day Ngata city). Kuroda Nagamasa gave Palsan the family name 'Takatori' after the site of the kiln, and changed his Korean name to the Japanese name of Hachiz. Today, the site of the first Takatori kiln is known as Eimanji Takuma. The site has been excavated by archaeologists who found that the wares made there by Takatori Hachiz and his helpers were of a dark colored, sandy clay and were covered in simple glazes based on straw ash and wood ash. Many of the pieces were thickly made as a result of the poor fire-resistance of the clay, and were utilitarian in nature, although some wares for tea were fired at Eimanji Takuma as well. The kiln structure was of the 'split-bamboo' type of 'climbing' kiln commonly found in Korea in the sixteenth century and had six chambers. The Uchigaso Kiln (1614 - 1620s)After locating better clay, Takatori Hachiz received permission in 1614 to move production to a site several kilometers to the north. At this new kiln, called Uchigaso, the scale of production was greatly increased, as numerous apprentices were taken on and a huge fourteen chamber climbing kiln was built, modeled on an improved style of kiln used in neighboring Hizen province (home of Karatsu stoneware and Arita porcelain). Hachiz and his son Hachiremon were given higher stipends by the Kuroda domain in reward for their fine work.Excavations have revealed that a wide variety of ceramics were fired at the Uchigaso kiln during its eight years of operation. In addition to dishes, bowls and other utilitarian wares, beautiful and stylistically daring tea ceremony utensils were produced as well. These display such techniques as glaze splashing, stamped decoration, incising, openwork and, rarely, under glaze painting. Perhaps the most significant stylistic aspect of Uchigaso te...
