The glass industry founded in 1846 by Shimazu Narioki, 27th lord of Satsuma Clan, made dramatic progress under the control of his son, Nariakira. Nariakira' s advanced ideas led to the aggressively introduction of Western scientific methods into the enterprise and artistic glassware, known as Satsuma-Kiriko, was developed, using British, Irish and Bohemian cut glass as examples. The word Kiriko is the Japanese term for cut glass.
The latter part of the Edo Period, at the beginning of the 19th century, saw the development of rather thicker glassware, into which patterns were cut. However, unlike the Western method used today, in which the patterns are cut by means of rotary grinding and polishing, the factory employed a manual process, in which the patterns were patiently incised with the aid of a long, narrow iron rod, emery powder and water. A wooden rod was then used to polish them. The unique Satsuma-Kiriko glassware, which appeared later, is made from layers of clear and tinted glass, which produce gradation effects. Glass manufacture in Satsuma Province came to an end in 1863, when the Kiriko factory was destroyed during the Anglo-Satsuma War, and production of Satsuma-Kiriko glass ceased. This exhibition, featuring some 160 selected masterpieces of Satsuma-Kiriko and related glasswares, is on an unprecedented scale. Visitors can enjoy the magnificence of these glassware gems, which shimmered briefly during the closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.