Kaga

Kaga's early modern history was shaped by the Maeda family's patronage as well as its military power. In the late sixteenth century the domain maintained a workshop to manage and repair weapons and armour. As warfare subsided, the same establishment developed into the Osaikusho, a centre where skilled artisans worked under domain sponsorship.

The third lord, Maeda Toshitsune, encouraged decorative arts, including metal inlay and Kaga maki-e lacquerwork. His grandson Maeda Tsunanori assembled the Hyakkō Hishō, a collection of craft samples used to study and catalogue techniques, and rewarded particularly accomplished work. Lacquerers, painters and metalworkers worked alongside one another, bringing skills that had often been transmitted within separate families into a shared workshop. Another branch of the Maeda family governed Daishoji in southern Kaga, where porcelain production began in 1655. Named after Kutani village, where the stone and kilns were located, Kutani ware added a distinctive ceramic tradition to the region's crafts.