Hist3.8: Hajiki and Sueki Pottery

The Yayoi Period is famous for two types of pottery: Hajiki 土師器 and Sueki 須恵器. The former is represented in English as “Haji ware” and the latter as “Sue ware”.

“…by late Yayoi pottery production was becoming a specialist’s craft, and in following centuries most households came to use a standardized, reddish earthenware known as hajiki (Haji ware), which remained the daily-use ware of most people into the twelfth century” (45).

Hajiki (below)

I find Totman’s notice that Hajiki was the everyday man’s earthenware until the twelfth century amazing. In an early post it was mentioned that not much changed at the local level throughout hundreds of years of Japanese history — this is one evidenced example.

Sueki was “more highly fired” and “wheel-thrown”, being brought in by “fifth century immigrants” (45). Because Sueki was “Produced by professionals using more elaborate equipment and more costly procedures, Sue ware was expensive and became the preferred ware of the ruling classes” (45).

Sueki (below)

Totman notes that Sueki was often buried in kofun with the interred individuals, as it was a status symbol of their class.

If you compare the pottery of the Yayoi Period to that of the Jomon Period, you’ll notice that even though the Jomon Period is famous precisely for its pottery, the Yayoi’s pottery is more refined and toned down in style:

(Middle Jomon pottery)