Imari

Imari is the port town next to Arita from which Arita’s porcelain was shipped to Nagasaki and, from there, to Europe, starting in the mid-17th century. Because European buyers knew the ware by its port of departure rather than its town of manufacture, “Imari ware” became the export-market name for what was, in almost all cases, Arita-made porcelain. That naming gap on the Japanese side only started closing in 1897, when a rail line reached Arita and let potters ship directly; “Arita ware” gradually became the standard name for the town’s own modern output, while “Imari ware” settled into meaning the older export style or antique, collector-grade pieces (see the arita region entry).

Modern Imari is not purely a historical shipping point, however. The Okawachiyama district within Imari has its own kiln tradition. From 1675 to 1871, it was the official kiln of the Nabeshima domain, producing Nabeshima ware as custom-ordered gifts for the shogunate and other feudal lords rather than for sale on the open market. Because the district was secluded in a narrow mountain valley with a guarded checkpoint to stop production secrets leaking out, it is still called Japan’s “village of secret kilns.” Today, ware described simply as “Imari-yaki” most often still refers to the broader Arita-style export tradition, while pieces specifically labeled Nabeshima or Okawachiyama point to this narrower, higher-end lineage.