Toki

Toki lies in the hills and valleys of eastern Mino, a district rich in pottery clay. The Toki warrior family held power in the area before becoming provincial governors of Mino. In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, potters across eastern Mino made distinctive wares for the flourishing culture of tea, including Shino, Setoguro, Kiseto and Oribe. At Kujiri, in the area of present-day Toki, the Motoyashiki kiln site preserves a multi-chambered climbing kiln and other kilns. Finds there include several kinds of Oribe ware, evidence of the experimentation for which Mino pottery became known. In the early Edo period the Tsumaki family governed several villages in Toki district, including Kujiri, and was closely associated with the growth of the local ceramic industry. The kilns joined skilled work with the clay and fuel of the surrounding countryside.