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| The Historical and Geographical Background of Mino Ware |
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 Toki City is famous for its long history of pottery-making. Because this area produces high-quality clay, potters have moved around this area from hundreds of years ago looking for potter material, slopes to build kilns, fuel wood, and abundant water for refining and forming clay. The remains of old kilns scattered around the city indicate that this area is blessed with natural resources and conditions suited for pottery-making.
Toki enjoyed a prosperous time as the home town of the Toki clan who wielded their influence over this area as the governors of the Mino province during the Muromachi period. In addition, the culture of this area began to from a close relation with the culture that flourished in Kyoto, which was then the capital of Japan, and by the protection of pottery by Oda Nobunaga who reigned over Mino at the end of the Muromachi period. Thus, Mino ware was able to incorporate the trends of times into its style (such as the Mino-Momoyama ware).
This long history of pottery-making can be seen in the remains of kilns through the city, in the white bare mountains in the suburbs where clay was retrieved, and through the various artifacts on display at the Toki City Mino Ware History Museum. |
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