10. Workshop by Shoza Kutani (1841-1883)

Shozo Kutani (1816-1883) opened a workshop in Terai Village, Nomi District in 1841, and did not have a kiln for hon-yaki, so he used materials purchased from Ono Kiln and other places. He specialized in painting. In order to meet various demands, he ran a workshop employing between 200 and 300 craftsmen, and produced large quantities of Kutani ware called ``Shoza Style'' using a production system based on division of labor.
Indispensable to this mass production method were the pottery merchants who sold the products. They not only sold, but also conveyed the requests of customers from both Japan and abroad to potteries and studios specializing in paintings, and began to take on the responsibility of planning and selling new products. At the same time, the number of potteries that were able to produce large quantities of high-quality pottery to meet various demands increased, and Shoza's workshop laid the foundation for the Kutani industry, where porcelain was produced mainly through workshops. It is.
At that time, it is not certain that all of the kilns in the resurgent Kutani were kilns that were run as systematically as Yoshidaya kiln, but Wakasugi kiln and Ono kiln had a main kiln and a nishiki kiln, and were involved in everything from making the base to making the base. It seems that they even produced and sold products. However, in order to produce and sell in large quantities under the Kaga Domain's industrial promotion policy, it is thought that the production method developed by Shoza and others was necessary. Therefore, this production method centered on workshops spread to the neighboring village of Sano (Sano Kutani by Isaburo Saita), and greatly contributed to supporting Kutani industry in the Meiji period in the Nomi region.
The Kutani industry in the Kaga region, which flourished in earnest during the Meiji period, actively responded to demand from Europe and the United States under a system in which workshop managers, pottery merchants, pottery makers, and others cooperated. did. In particular, Kutani ware with elaborate overpaintings in the ``Shoza style,'' which became the core of Kutani exports, was favored by foreign countries as a trade item in the early Meiji period. This Kutani ware was called "Japan Kutani," and its contribution was significant as it played a role in supporting Japan's major export industry.
However, after Shoza passed away in 1883 at the age of 68, there was no one left to manage his disciples, who numbered more than 300, and some of them became independent or established other workshops. It is said that this workshop disappeared as some people moved to other areas.