You take a swig of Sake that you don’t actually like. There is time when your biggest failure could unexpectedly lead you to a new direction.

‘Einin no Tsubo Jiken’ (the scandal of the Einin period pot) happened in the thirties of the Showa period (around 1960). This was a sensational scandal in the pottery world. A pot of Koseto pottery which had an inscription telling us it was from Einin Year Two (the second year of Einin period within the Kamakura shogunate, which is equal to 1294) was discovered and designated as National Important Cultural Property. However, it was found to be fake and actually made in the modern time. It would have been a major discovery of an artefact where we could trace its production period, but it didn’t happen.

Recently, in the popular TV programme in which specialists appraise artefacts, a tea bowl brought in became sensational as it was expected to be a newly discovered rare Yohen Temmoku. But most of the specialists judged this bowl to be fake. Only three completed Yohen Temmoku have been confirmed so far. All of them are designated as National Treasures and kept in Japan. Only fragments of pottery have been discovered in China in recent years.

The Koseto pot that was judged to be fake was said to be made and put into the world by Tokuro Kato, a potter based in Seto in Aichi Prefecture who even faked a ruin of an old kiln called Matsudome. But some say that it could have been made by Kato’s eldest son Mineo Okabe, who left his father’s studio due to the incident. So it is probably more accurate if we say that still nobody knows the truth. The pottery business at that time was a family business and authorship was rather vague, say some local people in the business. We can probably say that the incident ‘was possible’ as Seto has been a large pottery-making area since ancient times.

The charm of Koseto pottery, which was made for over 300 years between the Kamakura period and Muromachi period, is in the shape influenced by celadon from China or Korea, and also in the matured atmosphere emerging from drips of ash glaze. At the time of production, Koseto pottery appeared in the market as luxury glazed pottery. Good Koseto pieces hold a glamorous characteristic, and they are still one of the most longed for items amongst enthusiasts of old pottery.

People don’t talk about the scandal of the Einin period pot today, but Fujio Koyama, a respected scholar of pottery who nominated the pot for National Important Cultural Property status as the Official of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture at the time, resigned to take the blame. Koyama, who saw the misery of the world, drunk heavily. He called himself a ‘pottery studio troll’, visited fellow potters across the country, and created various pottery works. Items for drinks are particularly marvellous, and there are many collectors for them. It seems that when man loses something, he gains something. Koyama never said anything bad about Tokuro Kato. Koyama must have had a fine figure like the excellent pot of Koseto.

Masato Kurotani, Director, genra art