Kinsei  近世 or Early Modern time,  1603-1868

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When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598, he was succeeded by his son Toyotomi Hideyori. However, he is only five years old and so Hideyoshi appointed five regents just before his death: Maeda Toshiie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Mori Terumoto, Ukita Hideie and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu would undermine Hideyori's authority and eventually the regents found themselves in two opposing camps; The eastern daimyos under Tokugawa Ieyasu and the western under Ishida Mitsunari, who remained loyal to Hideyori. This led to the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 where the western army under Ishida was defeated. Afterwards, Tokugawa divides the territories among the Daimyos in such a way that he himself remains the most powerful man in Japan. In 1603 he established the Tokugawa shogunate. He dealt with the designated successor Toyotomi Hideyori in 1615 by destroying his castle, after which Hideyori committed suicide and his children were beheaded. Because this marks the official end of the Toyotomi dynasty, 1615 is also referred to as the beginning of the Edo era. However, 1603 is the official starting point for the Tokugawa shogunate, since that was the year when Tokugawa Ieyasu. the first Tokugawa Shogun,  was installed by the Emperor of Japan, the start of a new period in Japanese  history.  

The Tokugawa would be the most powerful clan to be and ruled for 265 years with supreme power. The previously so powerful position of the daimyo became secondary to that of the Shogun. The emperor resided in his court in the capital Kyoto but without any power, while the Shogun ruled the country in Edo, today's Tokyo. The Tokugawa period is therefore also known as the Edo period.

To enforce and maintain a stable society, the shogunate expanded its control over the people by further tightening the existing feudal system in Japan. The social structure was determined by a system of education in purely hereditary social classes, with strict adherence to the rules of conduct, privileges and duties of each class. This system reflected the social and economic values ​​that the shogunate assigned to different segments of society. Only the nobility, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and social outcasts (beggars and prostitutes) were excluded from these basic principles. 

Another important factor for stability was the institution of Sakoku, the isolation policy of the 'closed country', which began before 1600, leading in 1609 to a ban on Christianity and became a fact in 1641 when all Westerners had to leave Japan, with exception of the Dutch, who were allowed to retreat to the island of Deshima. For two centuries this small enclave of a few square kilometers was the only link between Japan and the West.  As a result of this isolation, Japanese development lagged significantly behind that of Europe, especially in science, technology, and military power. But within Japan, the isolation policy also ensured stability without complicated changes due to Western influences and technological developments.

The Genroku period,1688 -1704, was an era  characterized by a rapidly expanding commercial economy and the development of a vibrant urban culture centred in the cities of Kyōto, Ōsaka, and Edo. The Shogunate was funded by the proceeds of rice obtained through a tax obligation to farmers. The Tokugawa government therefore devoted itself to improving farming methods, which increased agricultural productivity. But this also created a boom in the manufacture of sake, paper, and silk and cotton fabrics and, of course, trade in them. All this in turn resulted in the need for standardization of coins, weights and measures and improvement of the road network.  A new class of merchants, manufacturers and workers emerged, which in turn stimulated the development of major urban centers such as Edo, Osaka and Kyoto. Whereas Edo became the administrative capital of the Tokugawa shogunate, Ōsaka served as the country’s commercial hub, and rich Ōsaka merchants generally were the ones who defined Genrokuculture, which was now no longer the preserve of the supreme upper class but increasingly became a more widely felt need.  Theater attendance increased, tourism came into vogue and a new class of art craftsmen emerged, as there was increasing demand for embellishment of the home, clothing and ceramic objects meant for the tea ceremony. In addition to the unique but precious works of art such as paintings and drawings, a market-driven art form, an industry of reproducible and cheaper works of art, also emerged. Draughtsmen, woodblock printers and publishers managed to serve a broad layer of the population with countless woodblock prints of kabuki performances, festivals, geishas and illustrated books. 

Relative peace and stability prevailed during the roughly 250 years of the Edo Period. However, this changed in the mid-nineteenth century under the influence of Western powers and the increasing dissatisfaction of the Tozama Daimyos (descendants of the daimyos who were not allies of Ieyasu Tokugawa in 1600, including the Daimyo of Satsuma) who wanted to modernize Japan and were thwarted by the continuing policy of isolation of the Tokugawa Shogun. On 3 February 1867, Emperor Meiji  (Mutsuhito) took the throne. The power of the emperor grew,  he was supported by the progressive Daimyos and his imperial army was equipped with modern weapons supplied by foreign countries. The last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, gave up his position, but refused to give up all his power. In 1868 the Boshin War broke out between the shogunate and the imperial troops supported by the powerful Tozama daimyos.

Japan's feudal era eventually came to an end in 1868, and the samurai class was abolished a few years afterwards. The Meiji restoration was the start of the modernization of Japan. Western technology was on the rise in the country. Modernization, however, meant the abolition of the old privileges and positions of power of the samurai, something that seriously undermined their financial position. Samurai felt betrayed by the central government, and rebelled, which after some open conflicts was settled in favor of the Emperor.  The last war was fought in 1877 by a small group of Samurai and is known as the Satsuma Rebellion.

The Satsuma Rebellion marked the end of the samurai class and the emergence of a new central army without social classes. The emperor became the ruler of Japan, starting a new era of rapid changes what would transform Japan from an isolationist and feudal country to an industrialized and powerful nation.  

The Edo period was a period without major conflicts or wars. As a result, the importance of military power declined, and many samurai became bureaucrats, teachers or artists. During the Edo-period the Daimyo changed from warlord to a patron of the arts, who encouraged the development and perfection of art professions and the cultivation of traditions such as tea ceremony. This certainly also applied to the practice of ceramics, which were initially mainly used for the production of goods that were important for tea ceremony. Many of these Daimyo had their own kilns, and strived for perfection and innovation in the production of ceramics.

An important development in ceramics was that from the early 17th century the first Japanese porcelain could be made. A Korean potter brought to Japan by Hideyoshi discovered porcelain clay in the Izumi Mountain near Arita (Saga prefecture); The first Arita production was decorated in simple blue underglaze, and of excellent quality. Specimens soon found their way to Europe via the Dutch trading post and the Dutch were given a trade monopoly in 1641. Shortly after the mid-17th century, the Sakaida family learned to use overglaze colors, with iron-red, blue-green, light blue, yellow and gold accents, in a style that became known as Kakiemon: asymmetrical and with many open spaces. A later Kakiemon style using brocade (nishikide) patterns in compartments became known as Imari, after the port where they were shipped.

Other kilns also started producing porcelain. An important other type was produced in the latter half of the 17th century at Kutani in Kaga Province, executed in rich colors and with stylistic changes in the early 19th century and again in the 1860s, when it became an important export item. Delicate, very white porcelain was made in Hirado, with detailed decorations in underglaze blue. Porcelain was also made in Kyoto, especially imitations of Chinese porcelain. But a more important development  in the Kyoto region was the type of decoration what was made there during the 17th and 18th centuries. Towards the end of the 17th century, Ninsei  (Nonomura Seisuke) began working in Kyōto and was responsible for much fine enamel decoration. Also the works of Ogata Kenzan and Dohachi Ninami, both from Kyoto, were famous for their overglaze decoration.

A delegation from Kagoshima learned the art of overglaze decoration in Kyoto and applied it to the newly discovered "white Satsuma".  This Satsuma style, a finely painted overglaze decorations on a cream-colored earthenware body covered with a fine crackled glaze, would in Meiji period and later also appeal to the West, but in the Edo period it still was exclusively intended for the Daimyo of the Satsuma domain.