09 | The History of Glass: Glass Manufacturing in Japan Part 2

How did you all spend Golden Week?

For the first time in a long time, I went on a train journey and enjoyed the spectacular scenery from a leisurely local train on the Tadami Line, a secluded railway line in Japan that was revived for the first time in over 10 years♪

For a while after the Heian period, the evolution of glass manufacturing came to a halt. The reason for this is unknown, but it may have been a period of continuous turmoil, or the prevailing cultural trends may have shifted towards different areas of enjoyment.

The introduction of new European glass to Japan seems to have begun in 1549 when the Portuguese missionary Francis Xavier presented glass vessels, mirrors, and spectacles to Ōuchi Yoshitaka (a Sengoku period warlord and local official in Suō Province, present-day eastern Yamaguchi Prefecture) to seek permission to propagate Christianity.

As a result of interactions with other countries, many glass products were imported, and new glass manufacturing methods were introduced to Nagasaki by Portuguese people in 1570 and by Chinese people in 1630. In 1751, Seibei Harimaya of Osaka learned glass manufacturing techniques from the Portuguese, and glass production flourished in Japan. At this time, glass was called "bidoro" (Portuguese) or "giyaman" (Dutch).

Even today, there is a monument to "The Birthplace of Osaka Glass" on the west side of the main gate of Osaka Tenmangu Shrine in Kita Ward, Osaka City, indicating that glass manufacturing flourished in Osaka in the 18th century. In the area around what is now Yoriki-cho, Kita Ward, Osaka City, there were many glass factories and artisans who processed Edo Kiriko, and many products were exported overseas. Incidentally, Osaka is said to be the first place where glass marbles were domestically produced.