Seiko Kiln's journey from tradition to everyday use, marked by the transition from Kutani ware.

Traditional Kutani-ware to Kutani-ware for daily use.
The Beauty of Seiko Kiln's Iroe

Do you have an image that Kutani-ware is somewhat expensive and difficult to use in everyday life?　This image is dispelled by Seiko, a famous overglaze enameling kiln. Seiko items are reasonably priced. So you can enjoy using them casually at your dining table. And yet the quality is high. You can enjoy the vivid colors and coloring that only Kutani ware can produce.Why can we buy high quality items at reasonable prices?Let's explore with actual items from Seiko

The Joy and Happiness of Using KOKUTANI in Everyday Life
Joy and Happiness

The Kutani Bean Dish Masterpieces Collection is a series of bean dish reproductions of designs from Ko-Kutani and the Yoshidaya kiln, the leader of the revitalized Kutani school, and is a popular item representing Seiko. We asked Aozuka why he chose to commercialize Old Kutani and Yoshidaya kiln designs.
The reason is that the designs (paintings) have power. The history proves its quality. The designs painted more than 300 years ago for Ko-Kutani, and about 200 years ago for Yoshidaya-gama, have been popular from that time to the present. That means they have been accepted in every age,” he says.

I have seen Ko-Kutani plates painted with scenes of daily life through the glass at several museums. The plates themselves were large, measuring around 30 cm in diameter. From an artistic standpoint, using them would be out of the question, and large dishes would be impractical in today's lifestyle. However, Aozuka items can be enjoyed as small plates. This will be a great pleasure for lovers of Ko-Kutani and Yoshidaya pottery.

Affordable yet high quality

The price is also noteworthy. We are glad to see that the price is easily affordable. In response to the price
Seiko says, “Kutani-ware that is stored in a warehouse to be looked at and enjoyed occasionally is wonderful, but Seiko vessels are for daily use. If the price is not affordable, it would be difficult to use it in daily life with care.

On the other hand, we do not neglect quality. Because we don't want you to regret your purchase.
I don't want you to regret your purchase. So what is the quality of Kutani ware? One of them is the Japanese pigments that determine the coloring and transparency of the painting. The colors of Kutani ware have been expressed by using Japanese pigments.

100 Years of Research on Japanese Paints

Seiko has a history of about 100 years. For all of that history, and still today, the research and development of Japanese paints is still being conducted. At the time when Seisaku was founded, Japanese paints were used only by a few artists and were not used for general distribution products such as tableware. The first generation started making Japanese paints with a book in hand.

The first generation, the second generation, and myself never tried to make one-of-a-kind or exalted products. We have been and are still working on the idea of 'how to make a lot of high-quality products and distribute them in the market.
In order to create products for general distribution and to maintain the quality of Kutani ware, it was essential to conduct independent research on Japanese paints, which are directly related to the characteristics of Kutani ware.

100 Years of Research on Japanese Paints

The Japanese paints used in Kutani ware contain lead. However, the Food Sanitation Law currently makes it difficult to use leaded paints for tableware. Sei was one of the first to develop lead-free Japanese paints based on its long years of research on Japanese paints. Moreover, Seiko developed lead-free Japanese paints that are baked with perfect beauty in terms of color and transparency, which were said to be inferior to leaded paints. Thanks to this uncompromising stance, we were able to produce Kutani ware tableware that can be placed on the dining table without compromising the beauty of Kutani ware.

Affordable prices made possible by our advanced transfer and printing technology

Why are we able to offer such reasonable prices? It is because we are able to mass-produce high-quality products through our transfer and printing technologies.

Using Japanese pigments developed by our company as ink, patterns are printed on transfer paper. The printed picture on the transfer paper is then pasted on the vessel and fired to complete the vessel. Compared to hand-painting, the process has significantly reduced both time and cost.

Pursuit of a hand-drawn look that exceeds hand-drawing

Black outline lines called gosu-sen. The veins of leaves are also drawn with gosu lines. These Gosu lines are hand-drawn and then imported into the computer, where the colors are placed to complete the design. The thickness and strength of the kurozu lines can make a big difference in the impression, so the lines are redrawn over and over again until a satisfactory line is achieved.

The colors are also designed to have the feel of hand-painting. The same leaf color can be painted in different shades of gray.
The coloring process is not consistent when the craftsman applies the color with a brush, and it inevitably becomes darker or lighter, creating an unevenness. This is what gives the leaves their charm and texture. We try to reproduce this in the printing process as well.

The difficulty of pasting a two-dimensional design onto a three-dimensional vessel
The difficulty of attaching a three-dimensional vessel to a two-dimensional design

Designing transfers is difficult, and “it's a headache every time,” because the design stage is flat, but the vessel to which it is pasted is three-dimensional. Let's imagine a development diagram from a textbook. Just like the development of a cube or a triangular suzu, a vessel is also developed on a flat surface, and then a picture is designed on it, he says. However, a vessel has more complicated shapes and curves than a cube or a triangular pyramid. Because they are not simple, it is a difficult task just to make a development of a vessel.

The beginning and end of the development are also important. When transfer paper is pasted around a choko or other container, the beginning and end of the transfer paper overlap. The artist has devised the layout of the picture so that the overlap is not noticeable.

The design of the transfer paper is created for each container, because the development of the design varies depending on the shape and size of the container, even for a familiar pattern, such as cobblestones, at Seiko.

All four pieces are familiar patterns for Seiko, but for “Demi Cup & Saucer,” the parts of the pattern are smaller and more detailed.

The craftsman's skill in applying the transfer paper
The skill of the craftsman who applies the transfer paper determines the finished product.

It requires a high level of skill to affix the transfer paper to the dish. It cannot be just stuck on like a sticker and completed. The transfer paper is very delicate, so the right amount of force must be used to remove the air between the container and the transfer paper while applying it. If you use the wrong amount of force, the transfer paper may tear off, and if the air is not released properly, wrinkles may form.

If the paper is not adhered in line with the shape of the vessel, the center may be off when viewed as a plate, or for a cup-shaped vessel, the overlap between the beginning and end of the transfer paper may be out of alignment, causing the picture to collapse. It requires a high level of skill to attach the transfer paper neatly.

It is as difficult to train craftsmen who have the skill to apply transfer paper as well as hand-painted overglaze painting craftsmen.
There are about 40 craftsmen involved in the production of transfer paper at Seiko, some of whom have more than 30 years of experience.
Some of them have more than 30 years of experience, and only veteran craftsmen can handle certain shapes of vessels, the most difficult being rock glasses, he says. The most difficult is the rock glass, which is said to be extremely difficult to paste neatly on the inside.

Rock glass “Iki”. The inside of the glass is barely wide enough to fit a hand inside. How do they stick it so beautifully on the inside?

It is a challenge of technique. Kutani Ware other than tableware

The Seiko lineup includes not only dishes, rice bowls, and inoguchi, but also business card holders, ballpoint pens, and more.

These items are a technical challenge. Since Kutani ware is attractive to begin with because of the decoration called painting, I thought that the campus was not only for ceramics, but also for other types of art. We thought that the campus was not only for ceramics, and then we happened to come across a material called new ceramics. Then we realized that the Japanese pigments we had developed could be used for painting on new ceramics, and we were able to introduce these items to the world.

Kutani-ware has made inroads not only into daily vessels, but also into stationery! You can enjoy Kutani-ware that is a part of your daily life at Seiko.