ABSTRACT
Japanese art, as it has come under the cognisance of a foreigner, may be considered in connection with four or five purposes to which it has been employed or adapted. This chapter includes lacquer, pottery, porcelain, carving in wood and iron, metal-work and painting. The lacquer industry has been in existence in Japan, inspite of any authoritative history of the country. Both Korea and China have had a marked influence on the manufacture of pottery and porcelain in Japan. Korean potters appear to have settled there prior to the Christian era, and to have imparted to the Japanese the first rudiments of knowledge in regard to working in clay, but the development of the process was greatly due to Chinese influences. The secrets of porcelain manufacture are believed to have been brought to Japan from China about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Satsuma ware is probably the most widely known, and the most esteemed among foreigners, of Japanese porcelain.
