Imari/Arita-yaki pottery has a 400-year history since its birth as Japan's first porcelain. The production area, centred on Arita-cho in Saga Prefecture, has inherited an attractive craft that encompasses a rich culture and a variety of techniques, ranging from traditional hand techniques such as painting and the potter's wheel to mass production techniques. However, in recent years, as in other traditional craft production areas throughout Japan, the situation is expected to remain difficult due to a shortage of human resources and successors, declining sales and rising costs of raw materials and fuel. The Saga Ceramic Technology Center was established about 100 years ago as a public testing and research institute to provide research and support for the ceramic production areas in Saga Prefecture, and has been providing production and marketing support for the production areas. We are considering what we can do for the next 100 years of the production area, what is needed, what we can do, and how we can make this industry more attractive in the future.

Porcelain manufacturing has a number of constraints in its complex production process, including moulding methods, painting methods, paint colours, changes due to drying and firing, glaze expressions, etc. We thought that one way to support the production areas would be to develop a collection of samples and tools to communicate this information in an easy to understand way. By creating a tool to collect the "characteristics of porcelain materials" and "colours of paints" for which there were no common standards or samples in the production areas, we were able to promote understanding of the characteristics of Imari/Arita porcelain and use them in product development and business negotiations. In addition, by creating a ceramic design application for "colours" and "painting", which are important features of Arita-yaki, the traditional culture of painting can be promoted.