Tradition, Modernity and National Identity: Celadon Production at the Makuzu Ceramic Workshop 1870–1916

The Meiji era (1868–1912) was a time of momentous change for the Japanese ceramic industry. One of the most successful ceramic workshops of the period was the Makuzu studio, established in Yokohama in 1870 by Miyagawa Kōzan I (1842–1916) to manufacture ceramics for the foreign market. Studies of the Makuzu workshop have focused mainly on its interactions with the West. Yet by the time of Kōzan’s death in 1916, the workshop was more admired for its refined Japanese- and Chinese-style ceramics aimed at the domestic market than for its export wares. Kōzan himself was particularly proud of his celadon works, which he considered “his life’s achievement.” Celadon was produced at the Makuzu workshop for most of its history but represented different creative approaches at different times. By considering the studio’s ongoing relationship with celadon—and with Asian ceramic traditions in general—this essay attempts to illuminate the changing priorities of Japanese potters over the course of the Meiji era and thereby to gain a deeper understanding of Japan’s wider efforts to reposition itself within the hierarchy of nations, both western and Asian, as part of the country’s drive towards modernity.