Another type is called Iroe, also known in traditional terms as Akae.\u3000 (\u201cAkae\u201d meaning \u201cred painting\u201d) This style features not only indigo blue but also vivid colors such as red, yellow, and green. In the central area of Arita Town, there is a district called Akae-machi.\u3000It is a technique developed in Arita Town in the mid-17th century based on Chinese colored glaze painting.
At that time, the feudal lord concentrated the Akae painters within a specific district to keep the technique secret \u2014 and that is the origin of the name Akae-machi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/1-1024x973.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhy was secrecy necessary?
The reason was that the Nabeshima clan of the Saga Domain \u2014 the administrative rulers of Arita ware \u2014 needed to distinguish Akae pieces as exclusive tribute gifts for the Sh\u014dgun and Daimy\u014d.
The Saga Domain was an administrative unit roughly equivalent to today\u2019s Saga Prefecture. The Sh\u014dgun was the military ruler of Japan during that period, and the Daimy\u014d were the lords who governed each domain. The Nabeshima clan was the ruling family in charge of the domain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nBecause of this system, the kilns managed by the Nabeshima clan came to be called Nabeshima Hany\u014d, meaning \u201ckilns dedicated exclusively to the Nabeshima Domain.\u201d
The porcelain produced as tribute items was known as Iro-Nabeshima or Nabeshima-yaki. In present-day Akae-machi, traces of this history still remain. One such place is the Imaemon Kiln, the creative manufactory of the 14th-generation Imaizumi Imaemon, a Living National Treasure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The tiles on the eaves beneath the second floor\u2019s window of the Imaemon Kiln are faintly stained red. It is said that these stains were made by pigments discarded by artisans after finishing their work.
The fact that the stains remain below the windows also shows that, before the invention of electric lighting, artisans might have worked near windows to make the best use of natural light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/4-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nEven today, visitors can observe artisans painting near the windows, just as they did centuries ago.
About a ten-minute drive northwest of the Imaemon Kiln is the Gen-emon Kiln, where you can see the entire process \u2014 from shaping and glazing to outlining and painting. Photography is generally permitted. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
If you wish to witness the traditional Iroe or Akae techniques of Arita firsthand, Gen-emon kiln is a highly recommended destination.(T.S.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arita ware\uff08Arita-yaki\uff09 can be broadly divided into two types based on the method of painting the vessels. One is called Sometsuke, in which indigo blue is applied onto a white porcelain surface before applying the glaze. It is sometimes casually referred to as Blue and White. Another type is called Iroe, also known in traditional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-re_arita-yaki"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ictstage.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/image.png\")
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