It had long been customary in Japan to send students to China for the purpose of studying philosophy and religion, and she now (1223) sent a potter, Kato Shirozaemon, who, on his return, opened a kiln at Seto in the province of Owari, and began to produce little jars for preserving tea and cups for drinking it.
Kato is regarded as the father of Japanese ceramics.
It was at the little village of Seto, some five miles from Nagoya, the chief town of the province of Owari, or BishU, that the celebrated Kato Shirozaemon made the first Japanese faience OwarL worthy to be considered a technical success.
This ware came to be known as Toshiroyaki, a term obtained by combining the second syllable of KatO with the two first of Shirozaernon.
Takemoto and KatO of Tokyo entered the field subsequently to ShOzan, but followed the same models approximately.