13｜History of Glass: Glass Manufacturing in Japan Part 6

Glass manufacturing was also taking place in Satsuma, Kyushu, alongside Edo. Satsuma Kiriko began in 1846 (Koka 3) when Shimazu Narioki, the lord of Satsuma domain, invited Yotsumoto Kamejiro of Shibagen-sukecho, Edo, a cousin of Kagakyu, to establish a glass factory.

Later, in 1851, Shimazu Nariakira, who became the lord of Satsuma domain, started the "Shuseikan Project" as one of his initiatives to modernize and counter Western powers.

Glasses were made using a technique of covering clear crystal glass with colored glass and then cutting it to create a beautiful "blur" effect. However, after Nariakira's death, the Shuseikan was destroyed by naval bombardment during the Anglo-Satsuma War in 1863. The factory was scaled down to rebuild the domain's finances, and many glass craftsmen moved to Edo. Later, the techniques were lost around the time of the Seinan War in 1877.

It was reproduced in 1985 and continues to be made today.

I will explain the difference between Satsuma Kiriko and Edo Kiriko separately.

Edo Kiriko has been continuously produced since the Edo period to the present day using traditional techniques, widely used in daily life as tableware for common people. On the other hand, Satsuma Kiriko was used as ornaments for daimyo. It was presented as gifts to daimyo and as a bridal gift for Atsuhime to Tokugawa Iesada, the 13th shogun of the Edo shogunate, for the Tokugawa family. Its characteristic feature is the use of colored overlay glass and a blurring technique.

In 1859 (Ansei 6), with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan, Western civilization began to be imported through open ports such as Yokohama and Kobe. Among these, oil lamps rapidly spread, brightly illuminating the nights. The high rate of their adoption can be understood from the fact that oil lamps and petroleum recorded the highest import value among foreign goods at the time. Glass manufacturers, who had previously produced wind chimes and beads, began to imitate and produce imported oil lamps. By 1866 (Keio 2), just before the Meiji Restoration, Kume Shohei and Ito Shozaburo in Osaka researched and painstakingly produced lamps. In Tokyo, Kagakyu and Kazusaya also became able to produce lamp chimneys, and eventually, oil reservoirs and burners also became domestically produced.