A simple fact to begin the Ceramic Scene 21st century: Many great Japanese ceramic traditions of western Japan began with Korean potters.
As so often seen in Japanese history, outside influences were brought in and shaped to the needs of society. In ceramic circles of the Momoyama and early Edo periods those needs meant chadogu (tea utensils). Karatsu, Agano, Takatori and the like first saw their wheels set in motion when, willingly or not, Korean potters were brought back to Japan in the "pottery wars" of 1592 and 1597-98.
The tradition of Hagi pottery is said to spring from two Korean brothers, Ri Shakko and Ri Kei, who first fired Hagi-yaki sometime around Keicho 9 (1604) in Matsumoto-Nakanokura, near Hagi in what is now Yamaguchi Prefecture. From these beginnings sprang a grand ceramic style that has been a focus of the tea world ever since. The whole of Hagi history is now on display at the Suntory Museum in Tokyo in an exhibition entitled "Tradition and Innovation: 400 Years of Hagi-yaki."