"The Japanese are a very hardworking and resourceful people, and some of their manufacturing industries are unmatched by any other country."
"The Japanese are good at making porcelain, and some say it's better than the Chinese one."
"Anyway, the Japanese porcelain we have seen is very delicate and beautiful."
Admiral Matthew Perry of the United States Navy, who visited Japan in 1853 on the Black Ship, is said to have said this about Japan.
Admiral Matthew Perry of the United States Navy, who is probably not familiar with the history of Japan. His original purpose was to serve as a port of call for whaling ships and to deliver national letters to Japan for the purpose of America's expansion into Asia.
However, it is also known that he carefully researched Japan before visiting Japan, such as hearsay records from the Chinese recorded by Marco Polo, a 13th-century Venetian merchant, It covers up to the report of German doctor Siebold who stayed in Dejima, Nagasaki, which was the latest information at that time, and covers the Japanese political system, the class system of the people and aristocrats, laws and religions, inhabiting animals and plants, I had done extensive research in advance on a wide range of topics, including culture, language, and technology.
After visiting Japan, Perry wrote about Japan's manufacturing technology in "Commodore Perry's Expedition to Japan," which was compiled based on the logbooks of Perry, his secretaries and officers, and the reports of experts. We collect information and appreciate it. In this book, it is written only as "porcelain", but judging from the route of Perry's fleet, it is almost certain that it was Arita porcelain.
In the brief and clear reports, sometimes cold, porcelain was praised as ``extremely delicate and beautiful''. It can be said that technology had a big impact on Perry.
From this historical background, we can see how Arita ware has been a Japanese culture with outstanding technical capabilities since ancient times.