Ushikubi:
Investigation of the largest Sue ware kiln site group in Kyushu. Precious documentary materials are added for the Wadō era (708-715).

A view of a kiln site investigation (Hasemushi kiln site group, Precinct 18) The kiln remains are on the upper portions of the mountain slope, and the dark areas visible below them are ash piles. The remains of 7 kilns were excavated in this precinct. They date from the eighth century.

Distribution of kiln sites Kilns dot an area 4 km east-west by 4.8 km north-south, among hills extending northward from Mt. Ushikubi, on the north side of the Sefuri mountains, with the range centering on the city of Ōnojō in Fukuoka prefecture, and extending to the cities of Kasuga and Dazaifu. From factors such as topography they are inferred to have been divided into five major groups. Located near the Hie/Naka site group, believed to be the location of the Na no Tsu no Miyake (a sixth century outpost of the central Yamato authority), and the site of the Dazaifu regional government headquarters (established in the seventh century by the central authority), which supervised all of Kyushu, it was close to the administrative center of northern Kyushu from the Kofun period on. Adapted from Hakkutsu sareta Nihon rettō 2012 [Excavations in the Japanese Archipelago, 2012] (Bunkachō [Agency for Cultural Affairs], ed., Asahi Shimbun Publications, 2012).

Ushikubi Kiln Site Group, Ōnojō City, Fukuoka Prefecture

Kyushu’s largest Sue ware production district

The Ushikubi kiln site group, in the eastern portion of the Fukuoka plain, is the largest Sue ware kiln site group of its kind in Kyushu. The kilns were operated for approximately 300 years, from the Late Kofun (around the mid-sixth century) to beginning of the Heian periods (around the mid-ninth century), and during the Nara period (eighth century) its products were taken to every part of Kyushu.

More than 300 kiln remains have been investigated to date, and as over 100 more are known to survive among the hills, a total in excess of 500 kilns is surmised.

Sue vessels with incised writing are found

Charcoal and misshaped Sue items discarded after firing are found in ash piles which spread over the area below the remains of each kiln. Among the discards are items inscribed with characters. Characters were written while the clay was not yet dry after the vessel had been shaped, and these items are called heragaki (meaning “spatula-incised writing”) Sue ware. Thirty-eight have been recovered from the Ushikubi kiln site group

What do the characters tell?

Among the inscribed items are those indicating that three individuals from the administrative village of Shutō in Naka district, in the ancient province of Chikuzen, were paying a tax in kind called chō, in the form of large Sue jars, in the year 713. A ninth century record of administrative regulations, contained in the Engishiki, indicates that men of Chikuzen paid their chō tax in groups of three, and strictly stipulates the vessel type, size, and format of payment notification. Examples conforming to these regulations were found among the incised Sue items.

Among the inscribed names of artisans, those of Ōmiwa no Kimi and Ōmiwabe are most frequent, showing them to be central figures among artisans of the Ushikubi kiln site group. Families of Miwa descent, such as Ōmiwabe, and Miwa no Atai and Miwahitobe, are known to have been connected with Sue production, and their involvement is also seen in the ancient provinces of Izumi (in Osaka prefecture) and Tōtōmi (in Shizuoka prefecture). The Sue vessels with incised writing are precious materials shedding light on the nature of tax payments in the ancient period. (Ishiki Hidetaka)

(principal artifacts, Ushikubi Kiln Site Group)

Large jar recovered from the Hondō site group, Excavation No. 7, valley area Asuka period (first half to the middle decades of the seventh century). Diameter: 46.7 cm. This was recovered from the Kamiōri district in Ōnojō, more than 2.5 km north from the Hasemushi kiln site group. The inscribed characters form a column placed horizontally along the neck of the jar. Written in an excellent hand, the level of quality is high even in comparison with ink-written materials, or inscriptions in stone or metal, of the same period. The final character, (kan, administrator), appended to the name Ōmiwabe Mino, indicates that individual was quite possibly a manager at the Ushikubi kiln site group, and the character (be) in the surname may be a vestige of the earlier system of labor communities linked directly to the central court. Also, it may be inferred from the calligraphy that Ōmiwabe Mino was no mere local artisan.	Large jar recovered from the Hasemushi site group, Location 12 Nara period, the year Wadō 6 (713). Width: 42 cm. The payment of a single large Sue jar as chō tax by Ōmiwabe Tokushin and two others in the year Wadō 6 (713) is recorded. The payment of a single large Sue jar by three persons is in accordance with regulations noted in the Engishiki. Also, the village name seen in the inscription (, Shutō) does not appear in the Wamyō ruijūshō (an ancient dictionary and gazette), compiled around the mid-tenth century, and there is debate as to whether it is a place name that fell into disuse, or the result of some irregularity in orthography.
Large jar recovered from the Hasemushi site group, Location 12 Nara period, first half of the eighth century. Width: 23 cm. This inscription, with nearly the same content as the Wadō 6 (713) item introduced above, may be seen as from the same year, but the names of the three persons intending the payment of this jar appear to be different. Also, while the modern characters are used for the Naka district, on incised vessels recovered from Location 12 of the Hasemushi site group the variant orthographic renderings and are noteworthy.	Large jar recovered from the Hasemushi site group, Location 12 Nara period, the year Wadō 6 (713). Width: 15 cm. This also has almost the same content as the Wadō 6 (713) item previously introduced, with the names of the three persons intending the payment of the jar being different. From these three items it is presumed that 9 artisans are ascertained as having paid their chō tax in the year 713.
Large jar recovered from the Hasemushi site group, Location 12 Nara period, first half of the eighth century. Width: 13 cm. Differing from the previous three items, here the descriptor (persons of Shutō village) was apparently included. Also, as the same figure Ōmiwa no Kimi Momoe of the previous item is seen, this was possibly meant as payment in a different year.	Jar recovered from the Tsukahara site group Nara period, first half of the eighth century. Width: 12.5 cm. This was recovered from a settlement over 1 km north of the Hasemushi kiln site group. As the surname Oshisaka is seen, it is known there were artisans other than those of the Ōmiwabe family. Also, the characters for “year 7” are thought to indicate Wadō 7 (714).