Shizuhata ware is pottery made in Yanagi Town, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture. It was founded by Ota Shichiroemon at the foot of Mt. Shizuhata in the Edo period.
Their kiln was authorized as the official kiln of the Tokugawa clan and granted the name Shizuhata ware by Tokugawa Ieyasu. They flourished for hundreds of years, but by the end of the Bunsei era, the kiln was washed away by the Abe river flood, and they inevitably continued to decline.
With the start of the Meiji period, the kiln was restored by Ota Manjiro, but it did not regain its initial prosperity. The prefecture considered developing the kiln as a local industry, and invited Aoshima Shosuke (died in 1912). The second-generation head, Goro, implemented the style of Tokoname ware, and attempted to make new pottery. In the era of the third-generation head, Shuka, Shizuhata ware was developed into colorful pottery. After the fourth-generation head, Shinichi (died in 2005), the fifth-generation head, Harumi, succeeded the kiln and is still in charge until now.
