Minato ware is believed to have originated when Doraku, the younger brother of Donyu, established a kiln in Minato, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, between 1648–1652 in the late 17th century. The Doraku kiln was later handed down to the Yamamoto kiln.
Around the same time, a potter from Omura, Kyoto by the name of Ueda Kichiemon immigrated to Minato Village, Sakai. He learned Doraku kiln’s techniques of making and firing pottery, and started making pottery in Sakai. The Doraku kiln later became a Kichiemon kiln. By the time of the fifth-generation head, the Ueda Kichiemon kiln had succeeded in producing imitations of the raku ware, Kochi ware.
In the Edo period, Minato ware was developed by the Yamamoto kiln and the Ueda Honminato kiln.
In the early 18th century, Ueda Kichiemon’s relative, Nagahamaya Kichibei, took the works of the Ueda Honminato kiln as a reference to make many masterpieces that still exist. Since Nagahamaya kiln is branched from the Ueda Honminato kiln, they took on the family name, Tsushio, since the Meiji period, and changed the name of their kiln to Tsushio kiln. They left behind many high-quality products, mainly tea bowls.
Kaneda Shinpei (founder) lived in 1-Chome, East Zaimoku town, Sakai City. Aside from owning a pottery business, he opened a kiln that specialized in making sake cups in 1877, which was very active.
After the death of the eighth-generation head, Kichiemon Kippei, in 1906, the Ueda Honminato kiln came to an end. The other kiln closed at the end of the Meiji period as well.
