Fukumitsu pottery is made in the Fukumitsu district of Nanto City. It is a hand moulded pottery. I only know of one kiln, Fukumitsu Toen. Though Toyama is not known for its pottery keep in mind that this area is not too far from Ishikawa Prefecture, home of Kutani and Ohi ceramics.
The master potter is Matsumura Eikichi 松村栄吉.
Information about this pottery was almost impossible to find as it is not a major pottery style. I saw a set of this kind of sake cups on ebay mislabeled by a Japanese seller as Fukuko, same mark but incorrect reading. It wasn't until I searched and searched on a map of Toyama that I came across the mistake. The kanji 光 can be read as Hikari, Ko and Mitsu, among others. Once I found the correct reading and location I finally found the kiln. Now I finally know where these cute little cups come from!
***Do not confuse with Fukumitsu Yaki of Tottori Prefecture.
I am Mike from the Netherlands, I recently bought a beautiful satsuma vase. I am trying to research the provenance just out of curiosity. With the help of a friend i was able to translate the stamp on the bottom of the vase. It said 富山, とやま something like Toyama or Toyama-Ken. Do you know if there is or has been any production of Satsuma wares in the area?
ReplyDeleteMike,
DeleteIt would help greatly to see your vase including the mark. You can email me at marmiet23@gmail.com.
Hello Mike & Marmie, i am Diana, also from the Netherlands and came across the same. Bought a gorgeous vase, supposedly a satsuma marked with red kenji Toyama. Do you have any information on the matter since Mike posted his question?
DeleteMike never sent the mark to my blog email so I have not done any research on it. If you would like to send me a picture of the piece AND the mark, I will look into it. Send pictures to marmiet23@gmail.com
DeleteI lived in Fukumitsu for a while in about 1989. I see it has now changed it's name to Nanto so it may be hard to find on more modern maps. I was given some sake cups like these but have collected so much Japanese ceramics over the years not quite sure where they are now. They were the same very simple pinch pots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Tim. I like the style of the cups.
ReplyDelete