Kakiemon (Japanese:柿右衛門様式,Hepburn:Kakiemon yōshiki) is a style ofJapanese porcelain, withoverglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the kilns aroundArita, in Japan'sHizen province (today,Saga Prefecture) from theEdo period's mid-17th century onwards.^[1] The quality of its decoration was highly prized in the West and widely imitated by major European porcelain manufacturers during theRococo period.

Kakiemon is a term that generates some confusion, being the name of a family, one or more kilns, and a brightly-coloured overglaze style. The style originated with the family, whose kilns were the main producers of it, but other kilns also made it, and the Kakiemon kilns made other styles. Both the palette and style, and very probably the kiln, were in place by the 1680s. The style is a sub-type of what is called in the WestImari ware, the overglaze coloured variety of the broader groupingArita ware, dominant inJapanese export porcelain in its first successful period, up to the 1740s.^[2]

The style was quickly copied by the new European porcelain factories that appeared in the 18th century, such asMeissen in Germany,Chantilly in France andChelsea in England. The Chinese also began to copy the style forChinese export porcelain. By about 1760 it had largely fallen from fashion in Europe.

The potterSakaida Kakiemon (酒井田柿右衛門, 1596–1666) is popularly credited with being one of the first in Japan to discover the secret of enamel decoration onporcelain, known asakae. The name "Kakiemon" was bestowed upon Sakaida by his lord, after he perfected a design of twinpersimmons (kaki), developing as well the distinctive palette of soft red, yellow, blue and turquoise green now associated with the Kakiemon style.^[3]

The nameKakiemon is sometimes used as a generic term describingArita wares orImari wares made in the Arita factories using the characteristickakiemon overglaze enamels and decorative styles.

The Kakiemon kiln seems to have been established by the 1680s, when the decorating technique was also fully developed. The early history and ownership are not very clear, and at this period the real Kakiemon enterprise may have been a decorating workshop that worked very closely with this kiln, which had developed a white porcelain body and a near-transparentglaze, superior to the other Arita producers.^[4] Shards from thekakiemon kiln site at Shimo-Nangawarayama (下南川原山) show that blue-and-whitesometsuke andceladon wares were also produced, besite other styles like Ko-Kutani.^[5][6]

Kakiemon porcelain was exported from Japan into Europe via theDutch East India Company, and beginning in the 1650s, through a variety of other avenues. KingAugustus II the Strong of Poland andMary II of England both owned examples.^[7] The earliest inventory to includeJapanese porcelain in Europe was made atBurghley House in 1688; these included a standing elephant with its trunk raised and a model of two wrestlers.

Wares included bowls, dishes and plates, oftenhexagonal,octagonal or fluted with scalloped edges. The famed whitenigoshide body was only used with open forms, and not for closed shapes such as vases, bottles and teapots, or for figures and animals. The hexagonal vases and covers known as "Hampton Court" vases were named after a pair atHampton Court Palace near London, recorded in an inventory of 1696. Around 1730, this shape was copied atMeissen, Saxony, which entered into a "sister city" contract with Arita, in 1979. The style was also adopted and copied inChelsea andWorcester in the 1750s and bySamson Ceramics in the 19th century.^[8] Statuettes were also created, an example being theKakiemon elephants (British Museum).

Meissen copies could be extremely close to the originals; alternatively, the factory painters sometimes just borrowed designs, and used them with other shapes and styles. The style was also adapted in Germany andAustria by theDu Paquier manufactory and in France atChantilly,Mennecy andSaint-Cloud porcelain. It was also an influence onDutch Delft pottery andChinese export porcelain.^[8]

Exports to Europe of JapaneseKakiemon porcelain, and all other types, stopped in the mid-18th century when China resumed export to Europe. Since bothKakiemon and Imari styles were already so popular among Europeans, Chinese export porcelain copied both styles.^[9]

In 1971 the craft technique wasdesignated anImportant Intangible Cultural Property by theJapanese government; a doubleclimbing kiln in Arita used for the firing of Kakiemon has also been designated aNational Historic Site.^[10][11]

Sakaida Kakiemon XIV (26 August 1934 – 15 June 2013) was designated aLiving National Treasure by the government.^[12] His son Sakaida Kakiemon XV became the new head in February 2014.^[13]

The original Kakiemon Kiln Site (柿右衛門窯跡) in Minamiyama, Arita is located behind the current Kakiemon kiln on the western slope of the Toshikiyama Hills at an elevation of approximately 85 meters.Archaeological excavations have been carried out since 1976, and the remains of two parallel kilns and a storage area where defective pottery was dumped have been confirmed. Both kiln sites are stepped, multi-chamberedclimbing kilns. "Kiln A" has a horizontal length of approximately 42 meters with 12 firing chambers, and an average incline of 11.5°, and the entire kiln is estimated to be approximately 60 meters in size. "Kiln B" has a length of 83 meters, and an average gradient of 13°, with 21 chambers.Each firing chamber increases in width toward the end of the kiln, spreading out like a fan.^[14]Saggars and kiln tools have also been recovered. The kiln ruins were collectively registered as aNational Historic Site in 1989 due to their good state of preservation. It is estimated that the kiln was in operation in the late 17th century.^[15]Kakiemon porcelains have been produced by direct descendants. At the same time many other kilns around Arita produced wares in the same style, some using thenigoshide body.^[16]

The decoration is usually of high quality, delicate and with asymmetric well-balanced designs. These were sparsely applied to emphasize the fine white porcelain background body known in Japan asnigoshide (milky white) which was used for the finest pieces. However, because manufacture ofnigoshide is difficult due to hard contraction of the porcelain body during firing, the production was discontinued from the former part of the 18th century to mid-20th century. In this period, Sakaida Kakiemon produced normal 'akae' wares.Sakaida Kakiemon XII and XIII attempted to reproducenigoshide and succeeded in 1953. It has continued to be produced since then.

Pieces are usually painted with birds, flying squirrels, the "Quail andMillet" design, the "Three Friends of Winter" (pine,plum, andbamboo), flowers (especially thechrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan) and figural subjects such as the popular "Hob in the Well" (shiba onko), illustrating a Chinese folk tale where a sage saves his friend who has fallen into a large fishbowl.

• 
  KakiemonHizen warepair of model elephants. 1660–1690
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  Dish with deer and pines,c. 1680–1700, andunderglaze blue (cobalt)
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  Dish with rocks, bamboo, prunus and birds, 17th century
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  Incense burner (koro), porcelain with overglaze red, yellow, green black, purple, and gold enamels, 17th century
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  Meissen hard porcelain vaseIndianische Blume ("Flowers of the Indies") design. 1735
• 
  Chantilly porcelain pot, painted with bamboo and prunus and two birds. 1730–1735
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  Dutchdelftware (faience), after 1722
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  Du Paquier manufactory plate withshiba onko design, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels.c. 1750
• 
  Chinese porcelain dish with ribbed edge, painted with bound hedges, bamboo blossoms and two flying birds on the mirror. 1700–c. 1750

• Chinese porcelain
• Intangible Cultural Properties of Japan
• List of Traditional Crafts of Japan

• Menno Fitski (2011).Kakiemon porcelain, A handbook.ISBN 978-9087281267.
• Takeshi, Nagatake (1979).Japanese ceramics from the Tanakamaru collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Kakiemon, Sakaida (2019).The Art of Emptiness. Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKakiemon.

• Official homepage of Kakiemon
• Kakiemon ware at the Cleveland Museum of Art
• Kakiemon ware at the University of Michigan Museum of Art

• Arita, Saga
• Japanese porcelain
• Hizen Province
• Historic Sites of Japan
• Japanese pottery kiln sites

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