Okawachiyama Village (大川内村, Ōkawachi-mura) is located in Imari, Saga Prefecture, and is known as the “village of secret ovens.”
Description[]
In real life[]
From 1675 to 1871, it was the official kiln of the Nabeshima family of Saga Domain, and was a representative production center for porcelain, producing high-quality ceramics for the Imperial Court, the shogunate, and various lords.
The Nabeshima clan ruled Saga between the 17th and 19th centuries, so the ceramics produced in Okawachiyama were called Nabeshima-yaki.
The Nabeshima family of Saga Domain moved their kiln from Arita to the rugged terrain of Okawachiyama to prevent the leak of their secret production techniques. They set up a guard post at the entrance of the village to strictly monitor the kiln. Here, highly skilled potters produced high-quality Nabeshima-yaki as commissioned offerings without concern for profitability.
The Nabeshima clan paid the potters working in Okawachiyama and allowed them to use their family names, just like samurai. Although the artisans were cared for by the clan, their work was managed by a government office with strict rules, including restrictions on entering and leaving the village. A pyramid-shaped monument and 880 unmarked graves are dedicated to the Korean potters and other artisans who worked here.[1]
In the series[]
Okawachiyama is one of the few important places in Saga that has not had a presence in the anime, although it did appear briefly in the Saga Jihen MV.
In real life, more exactly focusing on Zombie Land Saga, the town has appeared several times in television programs where the Seiyuus perform various activities. The most prominent being in the program “Traveling Zombies ~Saga Edition~”, where Rika Kinugawa, Maki Kawase and Kaede Hondo enter a pottery shop to make their own bells, putting on them messages of what they want for the future of the series.
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