Kosugi ware is pottery made in Kosugi Town (currently Imizu City), Toyama Prefecture. In 1816, a local potter called Takahata Yozaemon (died in 1838) established a kiln. It is said that Yozaemon visited various potteries in places including Soma, Seto, Mino, and Kyoto, and trained a lot there. Ever since he returned to his hometown, Mt. Miwa, he made various everyday items, such as tea utensils, sake sets, tableware, and ritual utensils. The sake bottles adorned with copper glaze and iron glaze were especially famous. Among those, the gourd-shaped sake bottles and the duck-shaped sake bottles with ameyu glaze line art were well-known. He also made a lot of celadon porcelain. They were known as Kosugi celadon porcelain because of their excellent quality, and were highly appreciated.
Later on, the second-generation head, along with his daughter, his second son, and his eldest son, who was supposed to succeed Kosugi ware for the third generation, all passed away due to cholera in 1862. The third-generation head, Yoemon, died young at the age of 25. It was then passed down to a relative, Suyama Sanjuro, the fourth-generation head. However, the kiln was closed when Sanjuro passed away in 1908.
In 1970, Ikegami Eiichi established a kiln in Tesaki, Kosugi. He announced the restoration of Kosugi ware and has been active as an artist ever since.
