香蘭社 story begins over 400 years ago in Arita, Japan. Here, a new type of pottery stone was discovered in 1616 by a potter from the Korean Peninsula. He discovered rock deposits that contained the raw materials needed to create porcelain. This led to the first creation of a pottery kiln in Arita, which created porcelain products.
Later that century in 1689, the legendary Matasiro Fukagawa, the first-generation Eizaemon Fukagawa, started making pottery in Arita. Soon after he began one of the original porcelain potteries in Japan, thus being the backbone 香蘭社 Pottery.
In the late 17th century, 香蘭社 prestigious products were made primarily for the imperial households of Japan. The company had a strong focus on overseas export during this time. There was a large demand for these exquisite porcelain products from royalty in Europe and the United Kingdom. Exporting such fragile pieces wasn’t an easy task, hence the Dutch were Japan’s only trading partners for most of the 17th and 18th centuries.
One of the main reasons that 香蘭社 Pottery continues to succeed after four centuries is in their core values. Their mission is to preserve and maintain tradition and technique, while constantly striving to innovate. The labour into each piece which includes design, shaping, underglaze, glaze, and overglaze firing is all done traditionally and in-house. This helps to guarantee an exceptional standard of quality on every product they create.
Today, 香蘭社 Pottery continues to drive the Arita Ware and porcelain manufacturing industry forward. Their business is running on a combination of traditional craftsmanship and advanced technology.
